Not Today
by CuttySark
Summary: The arrival of the USS Enterprise, from the viewpoint of the former Imperial Japanese Navy ship Zuikaku.
1. Bloody First Encounter

"This is not good." The flagship Zuikaku remarked.

"I reckon that the weather would turn a little bit unhealthy in a moment." The British returnee, or rather, the Britishophile Japanese sailing slightly behind Zuikaku quipped, scanning the sky for dive bombers. Kongou's fascination of the British culture, unfortunately, ranged as far to their resistance to being panicked. Which meant when she said "A bit unhealthy', it could also mean 'a swarm of angry bombers'.

"some wicked luck we have today, and this is supposed to be a simple welcome party." Kongou sighed. "Buggeration."

This afternoon, Zuikaku, Kongou, and few other escort ships were supposed to screen the area to confirm the arrival of an American fleet. They were scheduled to arrive a week ago, but communication got cut short at some point when they were passing through the South China Sea. Then, just yesterday, Zuikaku's base received a weak radio signal compatible with the American standard distress call. The admiral of the base, a stout woman nearing her 40s, immediately arranged for a search party. Zuikaku and another fleet carrier, Souryuu, would form the center of the force, using their aircraft to search the vast area between the base and the last location of the distress signal. It might be considered callous to commit such amount of resources just for a search party, but the admiral was expecting a trap. Thus, Just a few hundred nautical miles behind the main force, the admiral had arranged a secondary force comprising of fleet carriers Kaga and Akagi, a few destroyers, and the battleship Iowa. If it was a trap, then the fleet would be fully capable of mounting a counter ambush.

Well, at least they were supposed to be able to.

"Hmm, that's about twelve full squadrons heading straight for us." the heavy cruiser Aoba confirmed after looking through the massive lens of her camera.

"Kaga-san, you heard that?" said Zuikaku into her earpiece.

 _"I'll take care of them."_ a cold voice answered from the other side of the line, straightforward as usual. _"Just make sure your airmen stay out of our way."_

Zuikaku felt a vein popped on her forehead, but too preoccupied with imminent bombardment to make a decent comeback.

Other than Aoba, Kongou, Souryuu and Zuikaku, the main force also had two destroyers with them, both of the Akizuki class, specializing in AA. Hatsuzuki and Teruzuki had always felt like they were made to compliment each other's personality, with the former being quiet and the latter being almost painfully outgoing, but this time they shared a similar expression. Pre-battle near-panic.

Somewhat further to Zuikaku's starboard, Souryuu readied her bow.

"My planes are loaded. Permission to launch?"

"Launch at will. Hatsuzuki, Teruzuki, try moving forward a bit, screen for enemy reinforcements. Souryuu, we'll keep our planes within their AA range, keep the enemy focused and open to flank attack by the second fleet's air wings."

"understood!" Souryuu replied, short and solid, followed by the slightly trembling voices of the destroyers.

"Kongou, stick close to Souryuu. Aoba, with me."

"Ayayay!" Aoba chirped cheerfully.

"Roger that! _Allon-sy!_ " Kongou replied in a tone that's now basically expected from her. Very-cheerful even in the face of nigh inevitable doom.

As her ships went to their respective position, Zuikaku pulled a white arrow from her quiver and readied her bow. The sky was relatively clear aside from the dark cloud far to the north, and the wind was acceptably stable, a pretty good condition for a carrier operation overall. Unfortunately, the boon of the weather worked both ways, and the enemy bombers had a clear view of their targets.

"Teruzuki, give us some smoke."

"Y...yes!"

Teruzuki broke off from her sister and sailed closer to the carriers. immediately she pumped her boilers with excess oil, resulting in a thick pillar of soot billowing continuously out of her smokestack.

Under the cover of smoke, Zuikaku released her arrow, which transformed into a squadron of four Zero fighters, A6M5, a few meters in front of her. The Zero quickly climbed to join up with Souryuu's air wing, already approaching the enemy squadrons in a finger-four formation.

With trained efficiency, Zuikaku released 4 more arrows, just in time for the first of the enemy bombers to reach the range of Hatsuzuki's main cannons.

"Souryuu! We're going in!"

"Engaging!"

The air wings from both carriers boosted their engines to maximum speed, but Zero were designed for maneuverability and not for a sudden burst of power. By the time they reached intercept altitude, one squadron of enemy bombers had already dropped their load on Hatsuzuki. The destroyer immediately disappeared from sight behind pillars of water splashes.

"Hatsuzuki!" her sister screamed.

 _"It's fine! I dodged!"_ An answer came from the radio before Zuikaku could see Hatsuzuki again, and what she saw wasn't exactly comforting. A part of her hair was clearly singed, and her entire left arm looked burned.

"I thought you dodged!" Shouted Teruzuki.

"I did, but one plane I already shot down rammed me."

As a carrier of the imperial Japanese navy, Zuikaku was not vain enough to not recognize the irony contained in that report. But she'd have plenty of time to mull about destiny's sense of humor after she's not at risk of being bombed.

"Teruzuki, enough with the smoke! Go help your sister!"

"Y..yes!"

Teruzuki immediately pushed her boilers and steamed ahead towards her sister, leaving Kongou and Aoba as the sole defenders of the two carriers, and none of those two actually had any remarkable AA characteristic.

Having been sunk before, Zuikaku understood that their AA capability was below standard compared to other navies. Even the Akizuki class, the supposed AA destroyers, only had their notable main batteries to give them edge against air attacks. Their secondary batteries of smaller guns were still of the same mostly French-copied designs as the rest of the Japanese surface ships.

Zuikaku wished they could procure some of those Swedish/Swiss AA guns she had heard so much about, but with the war as it was, keeping a consistent supply of ammunitions and parts from another side of the world would be a nightmare. No, until Japan could establish it's own Bofor/Oerlikon production lines, they had to make do with what they had.

Zuikaku still wished she had better AA secondaries, though, as just when her air wing started to engage the enemy, Aoba suddenly shouted and pointed her camera at the direction of their flank, right at the horizon.

"Torpedo bombers!"

"Oi! Bugger me with a fish fork!" shouted Kongou.

"Kongou! TURN STARBOARD! Aoba! PORT! Souryuu! Slow down!"

Hunched together as they were, it would be easy for the enemy torpedo bombers to score a multi-kill in a single run. Zuikaku herself slowed down, giving her escort the space they needed to maneuver and turn to get most of their meager AA guns to bear.

"Souryuu! How are your planes?!"

"Preparing to launch another squadron!"

"Belay that! You won't make it! Just call a squadron back! I'll deal with the dive bombers!"

"Acknowledged!"

A squadron of Souryuu's air wing tried to break off, but two squadrons of enemy dive bombers suddenly took an offensive stance, diving into the Zero's now exposed rear and firing their machine guns.

"I just lost a squadron!"

"Damn! Hatsuzuki, Teruzuki! prepare for search and rescue!" Zuikaku watched as the enemy torpedo bombers were getting nearer and nearer. Some of them actually fell apart under the combined might of AA fire from the escort and the carriers' secondaries. But just 'some' were not enough.

"Break off formation! Evasive maneuver at your own discretion!"

Zuikaku would not let it show on her face when she was in command, but she was actually starting to panic. They were being assaulted from all sides, and the destroyers were already starting to get overwhelmed. There's no way they would be able to get out of this situation alone.

Fortunately, they didn't need to do it alone.

Zuikaku watched with relief as a hail of tracer rounds rained down upon the advancing enemy torpedo bombers. Half of the enemy torpedo squadrons immediately bursted into spectacular fireballs in a single pass.

"Good shot, Kaga-san."

For all her irritation towards the older carrier, Zuikaku had to admit that Kaga actually did have the most elite airmen out of all the carriers in Japan.

Though it would be nice if the Navy didn't decide to put all of their eggs in a single, very flammable basket.

To Zuikaku's surprise, though, her compliment was only answered by a confused reply from the other end of the line.

"We have not yet engaged the enemy. Zuikaku-san, whatever you saw, it wasn't us." said the demure voice of Akagi.

Equally confused, Zuikaku decided to take a better look at the engaging friendlies. The planes, only specks of black silhouettes at this distance, were strafing the enemy torpedo bombers in a manner inconsistent with the combat doctrine of Japanese naval aviation. They were flying too straight and too fast, putting not much emphasis on aerobatics nor grace.

After their single attack run, downing considerable amount of enemy planes, the fighters immediately broke off and climbed away in a pace impossible to be achieved by any model of Japanese plane. Then, after they had reached a safe distance, they turned in a frankly embarrassingly wide radius, readying for another attack run.

Zero would not do that. They would immediately pursue aerial dogfights the moment they reached engagement range, keeping close to the enemy's tails as much as they could. But nonetheless Zuikaku was familiar with this tactic, and from the look on her face, Souryuu did, too.

"Boom and zoom." Zuikaku remarked. "Kaga-san, we have made contact with the American force."

Her report was answered by silence.

"Is it really her?" Akagi finally gave a proper reply.

"We don't know yet, we're just seeing American fighters."

"Yup yup. Those are Hellcats, alright." Aoba quipped, pointing her massive zoom lens at the general direction of the aerial battle. Or rather, aerial slaughter, as the American aircrafts were already close to annihilating all of the sluggish torpedo bombers.

"Alright!" the boisterous, unmistakable noise of an American fast battleship suddenly filled the airwave. "Now we'll show you how we do things back in the home country! Air superiority! Death from above! American firepower brought up close to the gate of heaven!"

Although she could be somewhat annoying, Zuikaku had found Iowa to be growing on her, and she was not alone in that sympathy. The lead ship of the Kongou-class seemed to be especially endeared by the seemingly shameless blonde.

"Oi, put a sock on it, you continental git."

Although it was a mild insult in essence, the fact that Kongou said it with a smile and the unmistakable tone that she had used countless times before on the American battleship made it clear of how friendly the two of them actually were.

"Aw, come on, you love hearing my voice, don't you?" teased the American.

"yes, certain voice more than another, I'd bet." Aoba said with a teasing grin, followed by an agreeing laugh from Iowa in the radio. Zuikaku was not sure what the heavy cruiser meant, but she did notice the Japanese fast battleship desperately trying to hide a blush under her rigging, botching the timing of a type three shell and nearly hitting a friendly fighter in the process.

Zuikaku decided that whatever it was, it was none of her business, and resumed command.

"Alright, Souryuu, continue with fighters preparation. Kongou, Aoba, get your scout planes out, see if you can spot any more enemy ambush. I don't want us to get surprised again."

Zuikaku gave her command, which was immediately responded by a uniform agreement. Well, at least by the ships in her own fleet.

"To be saved by American planes. Your pride is crying, fifth carrier division."

Zuikaku felt a sting at the back of her head. Guess it was easy to use 'pride' as justification for everything when you had so much of it.

"Save the pretty words for your song, Kaga. I'm sure the admiral would like to hear you sing about your own pride."

Kaga immediately went silent.

It was an off-hand remark, spoken in the heat of the moment. But whether Zuikaku meant it or not, it did strike true.

Kaga had always tried to be an ideal Japanese woman, to show the beauty and civility of the Japanese people over the rest of the world. And the most lauded virtue of a Japanese woman, even amongst the gentlemen of western powers and other countries that generally despised the Japanese almost on principle, was their humility. And everyone but Kaga seemed to know that she had failed miserably in that respect.

And Zuikaku basically just called her and arrogant bitch.

"Ouch." quipped Kongou.

"Ooh. Nice shot. Someone looks mad as hell over here." reported Iowa, maybe a bit too cheerfully.

Maybe she accidentally went a bit too far. Zuikaku made a mental note to practice what she'd preached, to swallow her pride and give Kaga a proper apology later. It would be unpleasant, but she had learned first hand what grudges between fellow soldiers could lead to.

Kaga wouldn't know that, though. She served when the Japanese Navy was still dominating, and every grudges and spites that could negatively affect her performance were compensated by the skill of her airmen.

Zuikaku hadn't had such luxury because all the good pilots got grilled alive inside of Kaga's burning hull.

Which was why she found Kaga's pride so irritating in the first place. Their early carrier doctrine had so much flaws that ended up being exploited by the enemy. Zuikaku learned of this the hard way, but Kaga 'died' believing their doctrine was still superior. As far as battle experience went, Zuikaku actually had a lot more than Kaga! The only reason she got so much respect was because she bullied some biplanes up at the end of nowhere!

Zuikaku felt her anger rising. She knew she must stop. Without taking a breath, Zuikaku emptied her lungs, letting visible steam coming out of her nostrils.

'letting out all the salt', as Kongou had called it.

"My apologies. I was stepping above my station, Kaga-san."

Zuikaku was responded by a quieted 'Hmph' from the radio. She was not sure what that meant.

"I think she's sulking." said Aoba. Not to the radio, of course.

"Eh...uhm…" Zuikaku fidgeted. "Anyway, Kaga-san. Are your planes near? We could really use your help."

She was lying. Between hers and Souryuu's planes, plus the unexpected help from the American squadrons, her fleet had the situation completely under control.

The older carrier didn't respond immediately, but when she did respond her voice was as cold as ever, though maybe a bit calmer.

"We're right on top of you." said Kaga. "If you could break off from the enemy, we'll finish them off in a single dive."

"Understood. Souryuu, disengage."

"Roger."

Covering each other this time, both Souryuu's and Zuikaku's air wings broke off from the enemy formation under the cover of the destroyers' AA. Soon, Kaga's and Akagi's air wings emerged from a thin cloud layer high above the enemy squadrons, closing in fast in a shallow dive.

Ten squadrons of A7M Reppuu, the most advanced naval fighters in their current arsenal, flown by the best fairies in their roster.

Attacking from up high, they quickly converted their altitude into speed. The speed that no older Zero could exploit without shearing their wings off. Immediately they got into firing positions and let out a combined high-saturation barrage of guns and cannons fire that immediately annihilated the enemy bombers.

Again, For all the old-school posturing and inflexibility the old carriers possessed, Zuikaku had to admit that Kaga and Akagi still had the best airmen the navy had to offer.

The Reppuu, as if trying to prove a point, were annihilating the enemy bombers with elaborate maneuvers involving high-skill dives, climbs, and rolls instead of the more sensible and efficient straight strafing.

"Figured you could use some demonstration." Kaga's voice rang out from the radio, now back to her usual confident tone. "Especially you, Souryuu, just because you're not under Akagi's command doesn't mean you could slack off."

Souryuu's body shook, almost as if in fear. "Yes, ma'am! I'm sorry ma'am!"

Zuikaku watched with slight irritation and guilt as Souryuu exasperatedly tried to apologize. Irritation, because it's Kaga, and guilt because Kaga just subtly, and maybe justifiably, took a jab at Zuikaku's leadership, and she did cause Souryuu to lose an entire squadron. Guess she still had more to learn.

"I'm sorry that I'm not a competent leader." said Zuikaku. Not even she knew whether she's being sarcastic or genuine.

Under the swarm of skilled pilots from all the carriers, the Akizuki destroyers and the other escort vessels suddenly found the sky devoid of targets. It took no time at all until the entire sky was clear from the last enemy aircraft.

"Ha! Get back to where you came from you unrefined bunch of deep sea wankstains!" Kongou exclaimed as the last bomber went down.

Zuikaku, however, remained calm.

"Alright, Aoba, try to contact the American carrier. Souryuu, we'll give her fighters some escort. Kaga-san..."

"Combat Air Patrol, we know." said Kaga.

"Should we converge our fleet, Zuikaku-san?" followed Akagi.

"No. We should not give a single large target to the enemy. Keep our planes separated. But not too far. Stay within supporting distance."

"Understood." Akagi buzzed out from the radio, right before Souryuu called up to Zuikaku.

"Ma'am, you need to see this."

"Hmm?"

Due to how they were positioned after breaking off from the enemy bombers, Souryuu's fighters were already flying level to the Hellcats the moment Zuikaku's fighters managed to reach them.

"Wow."

Zuikaku let out an involuntary gasp. The Hellcats were, to be generous, in very poor conditions. Some of them actually had lost parts of their wings, some had fires coming out of their engine cowls, and one had its cockpit windows shattered full of bullet holes. In general, none of the American fighters were in combat condition. And since none of the enemy torpedo bombers were able to fire even a shot, it meant that these fighters were already in this condition since before they engaged the enemy.

Impressive, but even then, they wouldn't last long in that condition.

"Souryuu, you think we could recover these fighters?"

"We've never tried that before." Souryu said, obviously surprised by Zuikaku's suggestion to break protocol.

"Well, first time for everything. Get your fire crew ready."

"They're a bit heavier than our planes. Do we have enough hangar space?"

"Their wings fold tighter, though maybe there will be problems with headroom. If anything, we could just recover the fairies and toss the planes."

"Then can't they just land on the sea?"

"No, we don't have enough ships." said Zuikaku, gesturing at both of their destroyers, scurrying around trying to find Souryuu's downed pilots. "Recovery would take too long, and some of them might be too wounded to swim. We're doing this. Can you contact their radio?"

Souryuu said nothing. But Zuikaku though that she could hear her swallowing before she starting to give landing instruction to the Hellcats through her radio. The American carriers, as Zuikaku understood, operated in a different way from them, and the Hellcats might find it difficult to land without shattering some decks. For example of the two different carrier doctrines, neither Zuikaku nor Souryuu had ever bothered to have landing signal officers. They instead depended entirely on the skill of the pilots to land without wrecking both the planes and the carriers.

Maybe that's why so many of Zuikaku's new pilots back then were sent out on one-way missions.

"Second fleet, we're going to try to recover the American planes." said Zuikaku to the radio.

"Those are big fat planes. They'll go right through your deck." said Kaga.

"Umm...I'm a battleship, and I don't know much about carrier operation...but those girls look like they really need our help." Said Kongou, her spotter plane now also escorting the American planes.

"Wait...are they going to crash? Hey! You're going to save them right?" Iowa said, almost begging.

"Calm down Iowa. The carriers on our end seem to be determined on this." replied Kongou.

"Remember, Zuikaku, you're an asset to the navy. I can't have you out of commission just to save a few planes."

Zuikaku couldn't help but think that Kaga actually wanted to add "especially American planes" at the end.

"your concern is appreciated, but my deck is thicker than yours, and I can't call myself an equal to the Americans if I can't take a few planes crashing on my deck."

"Ma'am, they're approaching." warned Souryuu.

"Good, get ready for emergency landing. Clear all planes, fuel, armaments and flammable equipment from your deck."

"Wait, Zuikaku-!"

Ignoring Kaga's protest, Zuikaku cut off radio contact with the second fleet and prepared her deck. In a moment, her deck was bare, ready to accept some hard knocks.

The Hellcats approached and were ordered to land in the order of the most damaged to the least. The first plane landed on Souryuu's deck. It was a bit bumpy, but surprisingly smooth considering all the damage to the plane itself.

The second plane landed on Zuikaku's deck... and so on, and so on.

Thus far, everything went well.

It was at the last plane that their luck ran out.

"She's going in too steep."

Zuikaku tried to contact the errant plane, but no response.

Souryuu was the first to notice the problem.

"The pilot is unconscious! Zuikaku-san! Evade!"

Even then, Zuikaku knew that it was too late. She closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and wait.

An explosion of heat and shrapnels seared deep across the left side of Zuikaku's face. Even with her eyes closed, Zuikaku knew that her wound would be bad. It hurt so much that she couldn't even scream, only staggering backward, hoping to outlast the pain.

 _Ah, so this is how it felt._

"Zuikaku-!" Aoba shouted.

"Ma'am!" Shouted Souryuu.

"Oh, bollocking twatmuncher!" Kongou shouted.

"Zuikaku-san!" followed the destroyers.

Zuikaku could barely hear the concerns in their voices. Her ears were still ringing from the blast going straight into her ear canals.

"-answer me! what happened?!" Kaga shouted into the radio, sounding genuinely concerned.

Souryuu was the only one able to respond.

"Zuikaku-san got hit!"

"Was it the enemy?" asked Akagi.

"No, it was the American..."

"What!?" Kaga shouted.

"I'm fine!" Zuikaku answered, trying to calm the situation before Kaga decided to send a strike force against the offending American carrier.

"Just took an errant plane to my bridge. My deck and elevators are still fine, I could still operate."

Then Zuikaku realized that she couldn't open her left eye.

"How bad is it?"

"Not gonna lie, lass, you look quite knackered." responded Kongou.

"I see."

Zuikaku was in pain, and she suspected that it would be even more painful later when the shock wore off. Her fairies were working as fast as possible, cutting off burning rooms and pumping them full of carbon dioxide from her engine room/lungs, a trick she had improvised on her own after reading a lot about the damage control of American vessels. Her bridge was hit, and some of her officers were killed, but she suspected that she would only experience minor concussion for a while as her remaining fairies reorganized.

Meanwhile, her med bay was busy accommodating both the pilots of the Hellcats and her own fairies. Few American fairies that are still conscious managed to give her navigation officer a dead reckoning coordinate estimation of their home carrier.

"Alright, I got her position. Let's go."

"Wait, we're still going?" asked Kongou.

"Yes, of course."

"Umm...I don't have a mirror, but you look really bad." said Aoba. "like, half of your face is a bit...gone."

"It looks worse that it actually is." At least, Zuikaku hoped so.

The rest of Zuikaku's fleet looked like they're about to protest, but decided to stay silent.

"Akagi-san, we're going to form up with the American carrier. Can you continue patrolling the area?"

"Understood."

With the bleeding Zuikaku as the lead ship, the first fleet recovered their aircrafts and sailed on without much interference. Halfway to the supposed location of the American carrier, they started to see some sign of battle in the sea around them. Namely, corpses of abyssal ships and planes floating around the wreckages of numerous Curtiss and Grumman planes.

"If she's still floating I'd be amazed." quipped Aoba, all the while taking pictures of her surroundings.

It didn't take long after that for them to arrive at the given coordinate.

"There's nothing here." observed Aoba.

"My plane got nothing." said Kongou, her scout plane had already deployed again.

"Aoba, has the American carrier contacted you yet?" asked Zuikaku.

"I've been trying since we made contact with the fighters, but no, not yet."

"The American pilots in my med bay said they had lost contact with their home carrier two hours ago." said Souryuu. "She could've been sunk already."

That's a possibility.

"I suggest we withdraw, the water seems dangerous, and we're low on AA munitions." added Souryuu.

Zuikaku was about to consider just that when she heard the voice of a radial engine flying overhead.

"Avenger." confirmed Aoba. "Limping, alone."

"Follow her." Zuikaku ordered.

Following the damaged bomber, Zuikaku's fleet soon found their sight hampered by thick white fog.

"Low hanging squall." observed Souryuu. "And radio silence. She must've been trying to hide."

Zuikaku nodded. "Keep your radar at full power."

"I got something." said Aoba, who had recently been made a priority for communication and radar upgrade by the admiral.

"lead on, then."

With Aoba at the lead, the fleet went further inside the fog. A dreadful silence fell, adding to the eerie atmosphere, until…

"I...there!" shouted Aoba suddenly.

Zuikaku and the rest of the fleet took a while longer to receive a visual confirmation. It started as a dark outline on the surface of the fog, and then when they got closer, it became clear that they're facing an American carrier.

"Okay, consider me amazed."

She was white. Too white. Definitely from blood loss. Her short blond hair, slightly lighter than Iowa's, was sticking to her neck and forehead from all the sweat and blood that's practically pouring from her. Her predominantly white attire was nearly blown completely off, leaving her with basically strips of cloth protecting her decency. Her exposed white skin was tainted with various botches of black and blue from burns and bruises. Her face, somehow spared from all the damage that the rest of her body suffered, was looking at Zuikaku with unfocused red eyes.

Despite all the damage, the girl was still tightly holding her launching equipment. In her case, they were in the form of a double-barrelled shotgun and a standard flight deck 'shield', with shells containing her pilots stored in the hangar space just below her deck rigging.

A deck rigging that was still proudly bearing the number '6'.

When they were informed that they're possibly about to meet with the gray ghost herself, everyone in the naval base each had their own different reaction. Most of them were understandably pretty hostile, especially from the ones that had directly dealt with her in the past, like the Midway quartet (sans Akagi), and some destroyers like Makigumo and Arashi. Some of the more battle-hungry vessels like Tenryuu and Musashi, who didn't really care about history, merely looked forward to the arrival of a grizzled, experienced war veteran, ready to fight with them in combat against a seemingly unbeatable foe. Zuikaku herself secretly was looking forward to share experience with the American carrier, having fought her multiple times and survived, one of the few that could claim as such.

But no matter what their opinions were, Zuikaku suspected that, if any of them had seen the sight in front of her now, they would only feel one emotion towards the USS Enterprise; pity.

"By the gods, how is she still floating?"

The girl was short for a fleet carrier, about half a head shorter that Zuikaku herself. But the damage she had taken could make a battleship question their existence.

"Hey, are you alright?" called Zuikaku. Stupid question, she knew, but it's as good as any in this situation.

The American carrier responded by pointing her gun at her.

Immediately, Zuikaku's escort ships pointed their own guns at the Enterprise. The American Carrier didn't look like she's aware of the multiple high caliber barrels pointing at her, either that or she didn't care.

"Enemy...flattop."

The blonde carrier stood still. Her voice struggled, trying to pass the blood pooling in her throat and lungs. Her eyes looked empty.

Zuikaku recognized the symptoms. A lot of her own sailors and pilots experienced it at the closing months of the war. And it never ended happily.

"Fleet, lower your weapons." ordered Zuikaku.

"But..." Aoba tried to object.

"I said. Lower. Your. Weapon." Zuikaku said bit by bit, trying to not raise her voice and risk startling the clearly delirious carrier.

Zuikaku's fleet finally obliged. But Enterprise kept pointing her gun at them, even when her arms were clearly shaking from exertion.

"calm down...we're not the enemy." said Zuikaku, slowly inching towards the smaller CV. "at least...not today."

The Enterprise didn't budge. Zuikaku lowered herself, putting her bow low on the water and removing the string.

"look, I'm unarmed, see?" Zuikaku raised both of her arms, showing the now useless bow to Enterprise.

The American carrier lowered her gun ever so slightly.

"We're here under order to escort you to safety. If you remove radio silence, you could confirm with the battleship Iowa that we are telling the truth."

"Ah." surprisingly even for Zuikaku, Enterprise immediately lowered her gun completely. "Radio room and tower were hit...I...what was I'm doing?" the carrier suddenly looked confused, swinging her head left and right as if looking for something.

"You were traveling from Norfolk, Virginia, heading towards Yokosuka, Japan, taking some detour through Vladivostok on the way. We had lost contact with your fleet midway through the South China Sea. What happened?"

"I.." Enterprise paused, her blood-starved brain desperately trying to find words. "we were attacked...so many planes...my escort...ah!"

Clutching her side, Enterprise dropped to her knees, splashing sea water. Zuikaku immediately leaped forward, catching her before she fell fully into the water.

"Hey, Hey! Don't sink yet!"

Enterprise's face now only inches away from Zuikaku, allowing her to listen to every single one of her labored breaths.

"I...where is my escort? We were attacked...and they were...oh god."

As realization struck, Zuikaku could see tears began to well up in Enterprise's eyes. Losing comrades would never get any easier, no matter how many of them you had gone through. Zuikaku knew this well.

"It'll be alright, if they're still floating, we'll find them." said Zuikaku, trying to sound reassuring. But even then she knew that her fleet would need to withdraw soon, with the threat of enemy planes still looming and her ships nearly running out of anti-aircraft shells. "but first we'll need to get you out of here, okay?"

The American carrier didn't respond.

"Uhh...I'm going to lift you up now, is that alright?"

Zuikaku had to wait for a few moments before the American carrier gave a small, almost imperceptible nod.

Zuikaku was satisfied with that confirmation. Circling her arms around Enterprise's back and thighs, Zuikaku slowly lifted the smaller carrier, rigging and all, out of the water in a bridal carry. There were some advantages in having a human body, and this was one of them.

Zuikaku noticed that Enterprise was covering her mouth. Nevertheless, she could still hear her sobbing. It was subtle, quiet, quiet enough that there's no way Zuikaku's escort could actually hear her, and her free hanging hair was covering her eyes, hiding her tears. But there's no way to hide the fact that you're crying from someone so close to you.

As a Kanmusu, Zuikaku still retained some memories of her crewmembers during the war, and some of them involved watching propaganda movies.

In those movies, the Americans were always portrayed as merciless demons out to hoard all the resources of the world. And likewise, a lot of Japanese ships expected the Enterprise to be a demon, a vengeful ghost that somehow got tamed by the Americans through some form of dark ritual.

But looking at the secretly sobbing girl in her embrace, Zuikaku was not sure how she could see her as a demon.

"Aoba, tell Akashi to prepare the dock, Yorktown-class carrier, multiple bomb penetrations and torpedo hits."

"yes, Ma'am!"

"oh, and Aoba?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Tell the admiral to prepare too." ordered Zuikaku, slightly quieter than her previous order. "Because if I'm correct, our little friend here is about to make things very interesting."

Zuikaku didn't know how correct she was.


	2. Repair, part 1

"Ack!"

"Hey, watch it! I'm not repairing you just so you can hurt yourself again!"

Zuikaku could taste iron flowing across her tongue. She had been biting her lips in an effort to cope with the pain of Akashi's blow torch, but it appeared that she'd bitten too hard.

"Here, bite on this."

Akashi grabbed a clean hand towel, neatly folded it, and placed it on Zuikaku's mouth.

"Mmph."

"No protesting."

"Is she going to be alright?" Zuikaku's only sister, Shoukaku, was watching cautiously a good distance away across the room from where Zuikaku was seated, on a raised medical chair similar to those found in the room of most practicing dentists. But instead of a medical drill going inside her mouth, Zuikaku had miniaturized, Kanmusu version of industrial drill and a conventional plasma cutter jammed right into her left eye socket that had been forced wide open by series of metal hooks.

Shoukaku had always been squeamish.

"One of her range-finder is right toasted. She won't be having any depth perception for a while, maybe until the next supply drop."

"That's about a week from now." said Shoukaku worriedly.

"Well, at least she'd have time to mingle with her rescued maiden." Said Akashi in a teasing tone. She was probably smiling under that surgical mask.

"Hmmph...Howmp bhad ish iht?" Zuikaku asked, but trying to talk through bloodied damp towel was hard.

"You had a damaged Hellcat slammed directly into your conning tower." Akashi explained. "The plane broke apart, but somehow the engine was still intact, functional, and connected to the fuel tank. So..." Akashi paused while her rigging sprouted out another sadistic-looking german-made tool. "Your eye socket had been belching smoke, fire, aviation fuel and blood for the past couple hours. I've disabled the engine and sucked out most of the fuel, but the damn thing embedded pretty deep." Akashi paused again, looking for something on the tray lying next to her. "So yeah, pretty bad. Now where's that plier?"

"Mmmph." Zuikaku protested. "Nhot mhe."

"Oh, you mean the Grey Ghost? She'll be fine, I dropped her with Yuubari, she knows more about foreign ships than I do."

Unlike Akashi, who was responsible for repair and maintenance, Yuubari was assigned to R&D, especially in weaponry and survivability technology.

"Tough girl. Gave her some infusion and she already looked like she wanted to be back in action...that is if her rigging wasn't completely destroyed."

"Mpwah!" Zuikaku spat out the towel to the floor. The taste of clumped blood was simply unbearable. "Sorry."

"Asahi-san, please grab that."

"Yes, Ma'am." Akashi's assistant, a converted pre-dreadnought who was now a fragile looking, black haired woman wearing a brown _happi,_ stepped forward to clean up after Zuikaku's mess.

"And please stop calling me like that. You're older than me."

"Yes, Akashi-chan."

Zuikaku can't see her from her seat, but she's pretty sure the woman was smiling.

"So, you can't fix her rigging? Ack!"

"Are you insulting me? Of course I could!" Akashi spoke with slightly increased volume, punctuated by over-application of force in her equipment.

"Owowow... Then why don't you?"

"If you haven't noticed yet, we're nearing the end of the month, and supply requisition was just sent yesterday. I don't even have enough parts to fix your eye."

"I thought a Yorktown should be an easy fix." Zuikaku shuffled in her seat, trying to find a more comfortable position. Well, at least as comfortable as possible while having metal rod jammed down your eye socket. "Like, "24 hours in dock and back to combat' easy."

"Ah, you've been studying our former enemy." Akashi's eyes widened a bit, it's clear that's she's excited about the subject she was about to start. "Well, the thing is, even if it's the USS Yorktown herself, you can't expect to just drop her heavily damaged stern at an unprepared port and hope it'll go fine." Akashi said as she pulled another piece of burnt Hellcat from Zuikaku's eye socket. "Yorktown's crew did a very good job informing her destination port immediately after the battle was over, about exactly what she would need for repair and in exactly what amount. And since they hadn't had any carrier that could replace her at the time, they dedicated a ludicrous amount of resource fixing her, about 1400-men strong repair crew, twice than the usual standard. Even then, they couldn't get her back to ideal combat condition and she had to limp to Midway. And this base simply doesn't even have the resource that the American had at the time."

"I see." Zuikaku would nod if she could.

"No you won't." Akashi said as she pulled out the last of her equipment away from Zuikaku. "Or at least, you won't see as well. I did what I could, but you'll need to wear an eyepatch for a while." she grabbed another set of clean towel and started wiping the errant blood from Zuikaku's face.

Then, she handed Zuikaku a plain medical eyepatch, comprised of a little square cloth and a string.

"It's one use only, I'll have a box of them sent to your room later. If you want to maybe you could ask Tenryuu or Kiso for the more permanent, cleanable kind."

"Thanks. I'll consider it."

Zuikaku was just about to get off from the chair when Akashi went close to her ear.

"By the way, could I ask you for a favor?"

"What is it?"

"Could you talk to Enterprise-chan? I think she's about to do something reckless."

"How reckless?"

"She kept telling us that she wanted to talk with the admiral, about getting a slot in the next sortie."

"Without her rigging?"

"Yes. I think she wanted to look for her missing escort ships. We told her we'll consider it. But with the damage she took, I don't think she'll survive for long. Heck, I'm not sure she'll survive the walk to the admiral office."

As Zuikaku had read, Enterprise was a very aggressive ship. But as far as she knew, she wasn't suicidal.

"Could they still be alive?" Zuikaku asked, more to herself than anyone.

"Well, she seemed to be convinced that at least one of them is still alive."

"Hmm...alright, I'll see her later."

"Thanks."

Putting on and tightening the strap of her newly acquired eyepatch, Zuikaku jumped from her chair and onto the floor, and to her dismay, she was a lot less stable that she had hoped.

"Careful, you still have some minor concussion, I think." Said Akashi, offering a shoulder to lean on, which Zuikaku gladly accept.

"Zuikaku-chan!" shouted her sister, who immediately rushed to her side.

"I'm fine, I'm fine."

"Would you like to use a wheelchair? we have one extra prepared for Warspite, but I'm sure we could..." Asahi offered, but immediately cut off by Zuikaku.

"No. I'm fine, see?" Forcing herself, Zuikaku immediately got up on her own feet."Besides, I don't know what The Queen would do if she finds out I stole her throne."

"Suit yourself." Said Akashi.

After giving a polite bow to both Akashi and Asahi, of which the latter responded with an enthusiastic wave, Zuikaku went out of the door quickly followed by her still worrying sister.

"Are you sure you're fine, Zuikaku-chan?"

"Yup. Totally prime." Assured Zuikaku, making an exaggerated biceps stretch for good measure

"Sheesh, you need to be more careful! Why were you so reckless?!"

"Well, it all ended well, isn't?"

Zuikaku suddenly felt a hand pulling on her sleeve. Turning around, she found her sister's face right in front of her, looking uncharacteristically angry.

"Er...sis? You're scaring me."

"Please don't take this lightly. When I was sunk were you not sad?"

Zuikaku was surprised. It was rare for a kanmusu to bring up her own past at her own accord, especially if it involved their sinking.

"What? No, of course I was!"

"Then how would you think I would feel?! Why are you so selfish?!"

Shoukaku sounded like she's about to cry, but she did a good job of holding it if she was.

"I..." Zuikaku wanted to make a retort, wanted to say that her sister was over-reacting, that she was taking this way too seriously, but she suddenly found her words lost, either to shock or to decency.

"I'm sorry." Was all that she could say.

Shoukaku looked like she was about to continue, but then she drew a deep breath, and her expression calmed down.

"Good if you understand." Said Shoukaku, taking a step backward from her sister. "Now let's just get some food before we report to the admiral. I'm pretty sure she would like to hear how one of her best ships got incapacitated."

Zuikaku cannot ignore the tint of pride in her sister's voice at that last sentence.


	3. Repair, Part 2

"Sorry sis, but I must decline."

"Eh? Why?"

"I have something I need to do first in the dry dock."

Shoukaku's face turned sour.

"Are you going to see her?" She asked.

"Well, I did bring her here. It's only courtesy."

"Then...I'm coming with you."

Zuikaku noticed that her sister's voice was slightly trembling, and she thought she knew why.

"Sure, I see nothing wrong with it."

With Zuikaku at the lead, the sisters walked the short walk from Akashi's workshop to the dry dock, which was basically just a fancy term for medical wing designed for Kanmusu.

When Zuikaku reached for the door, she noticed that her sister was lagging behind a few steps back.

"Sis." Zuikaku decided to confront her sister. "Are you afraid of her?"

"What!? No! Of course not! It's been years!" Shoukaku stammered, waving her hands in front of her.

"Sis, I've been sunk too. I know it could be traumatic."

Zuikaku wondered if being scrapped by your own government was just as traumatic. Zuikaku made a mental note to NOT accidentally asked that when she meet Enterprise. Because that'd just be rude.

"No! I'm absolutely fine! I'll show you!"

Shoukaku dashed past Zuikaku and grabbed the door handle.

"I'm just going to come in, smile, and say halo!" said Shoukaku with an obviously forced smile. "I won't abandon courtesy just because we have a monster in our fleet!"

"A monster?"

"I...I meant a trusted ally!" Shoukaku hastily corrected herself before she opened the door.

Shoukaku crossed the doorframe with an almost painfully artificial cheerful expression, but when she finally entered the room proper, she immediately froze up.

The dry dock was a room similar to the medical facility in most military bases. A single big room with the wall lined up with numerous small beds on either side, each capable of accommodating one person. The only unusual thing about it is the abnormally high ceiling because former floating cities apparently tend to feel claustrophobic in a normal sized environment. Go figure.

And flying almost dangerously close to said ceiling, were three Avenger torpedo bombers, fairy-sized, Circling like vultures.

Zuikaku followed her sister inside the room, and looking at her sister standing stiff as a brick with her eyes widely nailed to a group of torpedo bombers, she put a hand on her face and sighed.

"You know sis? I suddenly feel hungry. Maybe you could save me a seat at Mamiya's? Her place usually would be crowded in half an hour."

It took a while before her sister found her voice. "Ah, right." She answered weakly. "I guess I'll do that."

Slowly, Shoukaku backed down through the door, never removing her eyes from the bombers. It didn't take long before Zuikaku could hear hurried steps going away from the dry dock.

"Well, so there's that."

With her sister running off, Zuikaku shifted her attention to the one girl that was the purpose of her being there in the first place.

At the far end of the room, at the corner, exactly at the place where it was the least well lit, Enterprise lied alone. She was seated, hugging her pillow and resting her chin on it, with her shoulder slumped against the wall's corner. Her body expression was overall very melancholic, and the fact that she's probably bandaged from head to toe under that hospital gown was only adding to her general fragile impression.

But her face was all but fragile. Gone was the expression of the sobbing girl Zuikaku met less than half a day ago. Her bright red eyes shone like beacons in the dark corner of which she had placed herself, judging from the crumpled sheet of exactly one other bed in the room. Her face was calm, but focused, with her sights trained firmly towards her bombers. The bombers themselves were still circling the center of the room, at the exact height that they _just_ didn't straight up crashed into the ceiling.

One sight of her and you would realize that she's a warrior.

If Enterprise noticed the commotion with Shoukaku earlier, she didn't show it. Neither did she when Zuikakau came up to her bedside.

Zuikaku waited, just in case Enterprise was going to start the conversation. But the American carrier seemed to be actively ignoring her, choosing to keep her eyes on her bombers.

Zuikaku braved herself and started talking.

"So, uh..." Zuikaku stammered, realizing that she actually had no idea what she's going to say.

"Nice planes."

Zuikaku could almost hear the wet noise as half of her fairies suddenly slapped themselves in the face. The other half were mentally kicking her in the rear.

Beyond her expectation, however, Enterprise actually reacted to her badly thought up social faux pass. At first, she looked at Zuikaku, looking as if she was confused on whether to be surprised or disgusted...

"pfft."

...but then she clamped her fingers to her mouth, obviously forcing down a chuckle.

"Well, I'm glad that I could at least provide entertainment."

Enterprise took a few moments to regain her composure, before turning to properly face Zuikaku.

"Great planes indeed." chuckled Enterprise, showing off a wide smile, a great change from her expression just seconds ago. "Way better than my old Devastators."

Zuikaku noticed that Enterprise's voice was surprisingly deep for her stature. Not exactly a massive contralto, but just enough that she could impose power to it if she would ever needs to.

"Ah, yes, the slow Devastators, heard they made for a fine bait back in Midway, allowing your Dauntlesses to almost entirely avoid our fighter cover." Zuikaku meant that as a compliment, but her fairies once again slapped themselves in the face.

Enterprise went quiet., and for a moment Zuikaku feared that she had once again goes over the line.

To her relief, Enterprise quickly continued the conversation as if Zuikaku was saying something absolutely normal.

"They're enlisting too fast. Brave bastards. They're prepared for war, but I wasn't." Enterprise expression changed once more. Longing, as if she's looking through time and back to her, and Zuikaku's, not-so-distant past.

"Faulty planes, faulty torpedoes, faulty tactics and navigational equipment..." Enterprise closed and opened her fist rapidly as if trying to reassure herself that she still had it. "I did a lot of things wrong back then, though I could do better once I got this body, but now look at them." Enterprise gestured at her bombers, still circling in a course that Zuikaku could almost sworn hadn't changed even a millimeter ever since she entered the room. "State of the art planes. All three of them. My last squadron."

Zuikaku was taken aback. As the most prestigious carrier...no, the most prestigious ship in the history of the United States Navy, Zuikaku had expected Enterprise to be somewhat like Kaga, very prideful bordering on arrogance.

But then she remembered one theory of why American pilots started trouncing their pilots as the war went on.

As far as American were renowned for their boisterous hard-headedness individually, as a system they've always based themselves on the process of constant improvement. Always learning their mistakes and quickly fixing them with relative efficiency. And although once in a while they stumbled upon bull-headed stupidity that made the rest of the world wondered, they seemed to held firm to the principle of 'nothing ventured, nothing gained', and overall, it looked like it worked out for them.

One great example of this was if you look into the design of planes between the Japanese and the American throughout the war. The Zero, although an excellent plane in its own right, went pretty much unchanged until the bomb got dropped. All the while the American came up with various ludicrous designs. They sometimes killed their own pilots, yes, such as the infamous 'Ensign Eliminator' and 'Son of a Bitch Second Class', but the problems with the early models were quickly addressed, and then it's just turkey shoot.

Enterprise was one of the main test bed of these series of improvements. In a way, she symbolized the growth of her entire navy.

Being reduced to a mere 3 planes must be rather painful.

"Umm...listen...Enterprise?"

"Just call me E, please." Enterprise said. "Nobody in this country could say my name properly."

How considerate.

"Right. E." Zuikaku looked around, confirming they were alone in that room. A useless gesture, but it helped to be sure. "don't tell this to my other countrymen, but I secretly take pride in being the closest thing my side had that come even close to your achievements."

Enterprise blinked, obviously trying to process what she just heard.

"Really?" she finally said.

"Absolutely. So I would take it as a personal offense if you continue moping about how suck you are."

Enterprise blinked again.

"Wh...what?!" her expression turned into a mixture of surprise and anger. "I wasn't moping! I was just..."

"pouring your heart out to a stranger you had just met?"

"I...I was..." Enterprise averted her eyes from Zuikaku. Her pearly white skin did little to hide her blush.

The Grey Ghost was surprisingly easy to tease.


	4. Repair, part 3

"By the way, those are not your last squadron." declared Zuikaku.

"What do you mean?"

Zuikaku put her arms forward, palms up, and from her sleeves numerous American fighter fairies started pouring out, jumping off to Enterprise's lap with some landing face first on her blanket.

"Are those..."

"Yup. Some of your pilots survived. I also have a few slightly ruined Hellcats waiting in my hangar."

Enterprise was struck silent. It was obvious that she was taken aback by the sudden surge of good news delivered with no warning whatsoever.

"I..." Enterprise was at a loss for words.

"You could just say thank you." prompted Zuikaku.

"I..yes, I mean, Thank you." said Enterprise shyly, averting her gaze.

"Was it really hard to say two words?"

Enterprise ignored her, instead choosing to count her pilots.

"Ah...these squadrons...they only lose one plane."

All that damage and that one was all they had lost? Amazing.

"Right, sorry I couldn't save her." Zuikaku suddenly felt her legs became tired, and she took a seat on a bed next to Enterprise's. "She almost made it you know? If only she didn't botch the landing."

"You mean..." Enterprise turned her head, her eyes immediately went for Zuikaku's face.

"Yup." Zuikaku lightly jabbed her thumb on her eyepatch.

"I..." again, Enterprise found herself at a loss for words. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright. Again, sorry I couldn't save her."

"No, it's fine, I..." Enterprise scratched the back of her head, making her already messy blonde hair even messier, before turning back to Zuikaku. "You know, it comes to me that I don't actually know your name."

Zuikaku realized that she hadn't actually introduced herself. Indeed, that would make way better conversation starter than 'nice planes'.

"I'm the aircraft carrier Zuikaku." Zuikaku started. "And I'm here to talk about your inquiry to meet with our admiral?"

It was barely noticeable, but Enterprise's eyes twitched slightly when Zuikaku said her name.

"Wait, Zuikaku? The carrier Zuikaku?"

"Yes."

"The Auspicious Crane?"

"Exactly."

"The host to the Mariana Turkey Shoot?"

Now it's Zuikaku's turn to twitch.

"I would prefer 'The Crane', if you'd be so kind."

Enterprise put a finger on her chin, looking like she had just contemplated something.

"Huh, interesting."

"What is?"

"We've just had a relatively normal conversation considering how hard we tried to kill each other."

"Is that so strange?"

"No...it's just...it makes me wonder what the war was all about."

Zuikaku was familiar with the thought.

"You mean, if we would become friends anyway, why couldn't we skip the fighting."

"Well...kind of?" Enterprise turned her eyes towards the wall, sounding doubtful of her own words.

"Unfortunately that is a question I don't have the answer for."

Enterprise looked down towards her fairies, who were now trying to climb under her clothes and back inside her. Then, she turned her head back to Zuikaku with a slight smile.

"Hmm...You know what, crane?"

Oh, we're going with nicknames, now?

"Yes, E?"

"I wasn't there when the war was over, and even today it hasn't quite settled in yet, but..." Enterprise shifted her position. Now seated at the edge of her bed, she leaned forward towards Zuikaku. "...are our countries really at peace?"

Disregarding the abominations coming out of the depth with the seemingly singular purpose towards mass extinction of humanity, then yes, both countries are at peace.

Zuikaku realized that saying her thought out loud would be awfully long, so she opted for a simple "yes." instead.

"Well, then..." beyond Zuikaku's expectation, Enterprise stood up. Both of her feet were heavily bandaged, which meant that her rudder must have taken a severe beating, but she forced herself anyway.

Unsurprisingly, she started to wobble.

"Hey! Careful!" Zuikaku raised up and immediately held Enterprise's by the shoulders, keeping her standing.

"What are you thinking?" said Zuikaku, exasperated.

"Well, since you've introduced yourself, it's only fair that I introduce myself properly."

Untangling herself from Zuikaku's hold, Enterprise took a few steps backward. Both she and Zuikaku now standing facing each other parallel to the bed.

And then, Enterprise bowed.

And it was not a half-hearted bow either, it was proper, near 90 degrees Japanese bow. She's surprisingly flexible, given all the bandages on her.

"I am the aircraft carrier Enterprise, CV-6, I'll be working with you from now on." Enterprise said steadily, with her eyes still facing the floor. "Please take care of me."

"I...what?" Zuikaku was stunned. For a whole second, she let Enterprise holding to that obviously painful position, especially for an injured person, before she realized what's going on.

"R...right!" Zuikaku bowed rapidly. "Please take care of me too!"

Both of them held the position for another half a second before quickly straightening themselves. A bit too quickly, in fact.

The irregular blood rush in the head brought upon by such rapid change in position caused some unwanted effect on both carriers' physiology. On Enterprise, this manifested in really shaky legs, and in Zuikaku, it caused blinding pain in the place where her left eye used to be.

Enterprise fell forward. Zuikaku tried to catch her, but the pain had made her much less readied than she'd like to be. Zuikaku was barely able to steer their fall so that they'd fall on a bed instead of the hard floor.

"Gukh?!" Zuikaku gasped as Enterprise landed hard on her sternum, knocking all the air from her lungs.

"Sorry." Enterprise said sheepishly.

"No, no, it's fine."

It was not fine. It was not fine at all.

For at the exact same time Enterprise tried to push herself away from the bed to get off from Zuikaku, the door opened.

"Excuse me, miss Enterprise? I'm bringing you lu-"

It was Aoba, of all ships, bringing what seemed to be a bowl of rice porridge. Her words got cut short as she saw Enterprise and Zuikaku, lying together on a bed.

What's more worrying than her bowl of porridge, however, was the camera slung over her shoulder.

Faster than any Jesse James or Annie Oakley, Aoba dropped her bowl, and before it even reached the floor, she already had both carriers on her viewfinder. Enterprise hurriedly tried to get off from Zuikaku, but only managed to accidentally grab on her _muneate_ before Aoba pressed her shutter with a resounding 'click'.

The ceramic bowl broke apart as it met the floor, spreading porridge all over the dry dock. But Aoba didn't care, she knew she won't have much time, and immediately went for the door.

She looked back, and was welcomed by the nightmarish sight of Enterprise that had managed to untangle herself from Zuikaku and was then chasing her, unbelievably fast for someone who was almost dead just a couple of hours ago.

Aoba decided. She's going to scream. She's going to try to get the news to as many ears as possible before she inevitably got caught by the raging carrier, and probably die horribly.

" _THE GREY GHOST IS A LEWD WOMAN!"_


	5. Fitting Out and Fitting In, part 1

At 39, Admiral Goto was a young woman by admiral standard . The damages caused by the Abyssal had massively shortened the line of succession for the admiralty, and with everyone above her suddenly got field promoted, she had found herself in charge of a Kanmusu base.

She would be the first to say 'yes' if someone would to ask if she was unqualified. The problem with Kanmusu was that they were an entirely new kind of weapon, but also terribly old-fashioned at the same time. This meant that while the admiral, a former AEGIS destroyer captain, suddenly had to deal with personnel that looked and sometimes acted like prepubescent girls and teenagers, it by itself was a daunting task for anyone above 20, she also had to learn to conduct naval warfare with technologies that hadn't existed since the 1950s. No jets, no missiles, no CIWS, or anything the modern 'girls' had taken for granted. Instead, she got wooden flattops and battleships. For perspective, the last human being who actually knew how to operate the boiler for an Iowa-class battleship, the most modern and last battleship, died years ago.

Thus she had to learn, or rather re-learn, everything from scratch, as evident with the ubiquitous books about naval warfare history littering her workplace. She was actually tech-savvy enough to set up a web-forum for Kanmusu admirals all over the world in order to share knowledge on how to best use their respective ships way faster than any government cooperation program.

Zuikaku admitted that she was impressed by the work efficiency of the young admiral, although it was evident that it had taken toll in her body. Her straight black hair, tied in a regulation ponytail, had considerably more whites that day than it was a week before. And although her face still had some youthful enthusiasm, her eyes were blackened by the lack of sleep.

"Miss Enterprise, as much I appreciate having another fleet carrier in my base..." the admiral started, gently caressing her twentieth cup of coffee for the day. "I don't appreciate said carrier damaging my other ship."

The admiral was talking to Enterprise, who at the time was wearing one of Zuikaku's spare outfits. It didn't quite fit, since she's a bit smaller than Zuikaku, but her clothes were still under repair and Zuikaku simply couldn't let her meet the high officer in a backless hospital gown. Still, her lithe frame looked a bit silly in the baggy kimono, skirt, and sandals. Kind of like an under-stuffed doll.

The admiral turned her head from Enterprise to Aoba, who was still caressing massive bump on her forehead.

"Don't forget about almost destroying the fleet's property." Aoba accused

Zuikaku took a short glance towards Aoba's camera she had confiscated right before Enterprise managed to smash it on the floor.

"Shut up, Aoba." The admiral spoke, slowly. "You're at fault too."

"Eh?"

Ignoring Aoba's protest, the Admiral put her attention back towards the two carriers.

"I know you have this 'don't tell don't ask' policy in your military, Miss Enterprise, but I doubt that even our Zuikaku would manage to seduce you so soon after you woke up."

'Hey, she was the one on top of me, alright?!' was what Zuikaku would say if she was a shameless girl with no tact, but she wasn't, so she stayed silent.

"Mind telling what actually happened?"

Zuikaku was about to open her mouth when Enterprise started talking first.

"I was and accident." She said bluntly. "Nothing more. The Heavy Cruiser was just overreacting."

"Oh, really?" Aoba smiled devilishly. "Because I remember clearly seeing your hand on her chest."

Zuikaku could feel her face heating up, but Enterprise herself seemed to be ignoring Aoba, instead focusing her attention towards the admiral with a stoic face.

The admiral deliberated for a few seconds, and then she turned to face Aoba.

"Well, if she said it was an accident, I don't see why we need to look into it any further. You can leave, Aoba, and leave your camera."

Aoba looked disappointed. "But..."

Aoba was about to protest, but the admiral raised her palm, stopping her words in her throat.

"Listen, Aoba, I appreciate you and Naka doing PR jobs for our base, but please understand, I need to respect the privacy of my personnel."

The admiral said slowly, as if she was talking to a child. It didn't help that Aoba was pouting like one.

"Aw, come on!" Aoba whined. "The public has been worrying that we wouldn't be able to work together with American ships because of old grudges, you know? Some diet members even think that we shouldn't accept American ships in our bases because it could disrupt team coherence! That picture could ease their worries!"

That...that was surprisingly logical.

"Even if it's true, I don't think our guest would appreciate her picture released without her consent. As a Japanese, you should've known this already." the Admiral continued her lecture. "plus, I think the public was convinced enough when you released that photo of Iowa and Kongou last month."

"Ah." Aoba expression changed, Unconsciously rubbing a spot where Enterprise _hadn't_ hit her.

"Honestly Aoba, I thought that you deserved that 5 Inch shell from Kongou at the time. Now..." The admiral tilted her head, gesturing towards Enterprise. "...maybe you would like to consider to leave before I decided to 'think' that you deserve a Dauntless bomber to the face?"

This was an empty threat, of course, since the admiral knew Enterprise no longer have any dive bomber with her.

"I..." For a moment, Aoba was standing silently under the admiral's gaze, before she suddenly took the first step towards the exit. "I...think I'm just going to leave."

"Yes, you do that." prompted the admiral.

Zuikaku thought that Aoba was just going to go straight for the door, but to her dismay, she slowed down just when she was beside her, and smiled.

"Oi, do me a favour, okay? Maybe you could be the one pushing her down next time."

"Aoba..." The admiral threatened, but by that point Aoba was already at the door frame, exiting backward as if challenging everybody in the room to get her.

"Hey, battlefield romance story is always good for morale, alright?"

With that partaking words, Aoba closed the door with a loud 'thud'.

And Zuikaku felt her face burning.


	6. Fitting Out and Fitting In, part 2

"Now that's dealt with..." the admiral resumed, rubbing her temple, obviously irritated. "You two wanted to meet me."

"Yes, Admiral, ma'am, I would like your permission to-"

"Zuikaku, your report first."

Enterprise looked obviously annoyed that she had been interrupted, but otherwise stayed silent as Zuikaku gave her report.

Zuikaku gave all the details she could remember about Enterprise's rescue mission verbally. Of course, she would have them written up later on, but it always help to give fresh information to the commanding officer as fast as possible.

"...we've encountered no further resistance past the initial attack. I believe the enemy forces had taken significant damage during their initial engagement with Enterprise and her escort." Zuikaku ended her report.

"Hmm."

The admiral rubbed her temple again. Zuikaku recognized this as one of her admiral's personality quirk, signifying considerable mental strain.

After a few seconds of deliberation, the admiral pulled up a notebook and a pen from her desk, and started writing so furiously that Zuikaku could hear her pen continuously threatening to break as she jammed the tip over and over against the sheets.

"Noted." The admiral finally stopped after almost a full minute of writing, Zuikaku could have sworn that she saw smoke rising up from the paper as she put the pen and notebook back in her desk. "Now, Miss Enterprise."

Zuikaku noticed that Enterprise had been fidgeting all the while she was made to wait for her turn to speak. When she was finally allowed to talk, her words were delivered slightly faster than usual.

"Yes, ma'am, I would like permission to form a rescue fleet to look for my escort ships, ma'am!"

The admiral looked at Enterprise and her expression suddenly turned cold. She reached into one of her desk cabinets and pulled out a tablet computer. Taking off her right glove, her fingers started swiping around the screen until she finally put the tablet down on her desk.

"Denied." she said with a final tone as she put her glove back on.

"Well, that's to be expected, honestly." Zuikaku sighed.

Understandably, Enterprise began to protest.

"But, ma'am-"

"I just checked our resource. I'm sorry but I can't risk it. Not without solid confirmation that our rescue targets are even alive now."

Enterprise took a step forward. For a second Zuikaku thought that she was going to jump the admiral, but she stopped just in front of her desk.

"Ma'am, I was talking to them less than 24 hours ago."

"The how come they haven't contacted us? I can't risk my ships going inside hostile waters based on nonconcrete information."

Enterprise went quiet for a while, trying to find a good reason of why her escort had not yet contacted any friendly base if they're still alive. Because they're definitely still alive. Or at least, Zuikaku could see that Enterprise believed fully that they're still alive.

"I don't know, they're probably trying to maintain radio silence and..."

"Now you're speculating." The admiral slouched back on her chair with her arms crossed. As far as admiral went, she wasn't an unreasonable authority figure that would stick by one decision until death, but neither was she a spineless leader that would change her opinion from the slightest hounding from her subjects. She was simply a leader that would act rationally given the information she had, and to be honest, Zuikaku didn't think that Enterprise had given a good reason for her cause.

"Give me one reason." the admiral said slowly. "just one reason to think that it's worth it. And I would consider it."

Enterprise took a few steps back and a deep breath.

"Ma'am, we lost a few destroyer escorts and supply ships in the engagement." she began. "But then I was separated from the rest of my fleet, and I believe that I had accidentally managed to lure most of the enemy's assault elements towards me while my escort made their escape."

The admiral raised her eyebrows.

"Interesting tactic. But I'm not sure that's how 'escort' supposed to works." The admiral said as her hands moved towards the neglected cup of coffee on her desk. "Still, I don't see why they haven't reached this base yet if they did survive."

"Well, they...they might be..."

Zuikaku could hear Enterprise starting stutter. And she could see why. To her belief, her friends could be in life or death situation right at that second, and their survival could be hinged on her ability to persuade this one admiral to not give up a rescue mission.

That was the point when the carrier Zuikaku decided to interfere.

"If I may speak, admiral?"

"Approved."

"As I've said, we've downed a considerable number of aircraft during our sortie, after which we encountered no resistance nor another air attack until our fleet formed up with Enterprise."

Zuikaku stopped as her admiral took another sip of her now lukewarm coffee. "Continue."

"It is entirely within the realm of possibility that we've had inflicted enough damage to knock the enemy carriers out of action and reached air superiority without even realizing it. If this is true, then we deprived them the capability to execute a wide area surveillance."

"Aah." The admiral smiled wryly. It looked like she knew where Zuikaku was going with this.

"A fast scout force could be deployed in lieu of a full rescue team to assess the situation first with minimal risk. If the scouts manage to find the missing escort, they could guide them to our base, and if the enemy proofed to be too much to handle for a small scout team, then we would at least have enough intel to make a proper rescue plan. And if they don't find anything, then..." Zuikaku looked at Enterprise. She's looking down at her own feet, hiding her eyes under her long bang. Zuikaku decided not to continue her sentence.

"I noticed an 'if' in that plan of yours, Zuikaku." said the admiral.

"Yes, it is still risky. I'm not dismissing that, ma'am." Zuikaku continued. "But the minimal risk of a small scout force, I personally think, would worth getting the numbers of ships that are worthy of escorting the grey ghost."

Zuikaku looked again at Enterprise, and this time, she managed to look her in the eyes. But sending a mental message through eye contact alone was surprisingly difficult outside of an ideal married life.

 _Come on, the USN wouldn't send outdated ships to escort the great Enterprise, right?_

Surprisingly for Zuikaku, Enterprise seemed to be able to take the hint, as she immediately started to speak when she saw Zuikaku eyes (and maybe some subtle head gesture).

"Ma'am, my escort includes few of our most advanced anti-air cruisers and destroyers. I believe that they would make a great addition to the fleet."

Zuikaku could see the admiral visibly perked up when Enterprise mentioned the nature of her escort.

"Anti-air cruisers and destroyers...are they using the 38 calibre five-inch guns?"

"Yes, ma'am, I believe most of them have them as their primary armament."

The admiral rubbed her temple again.

"That means to limited extent, and with a little adjustment I could arrange for them to share parts with the battleship Iowa...that would simplify supply...and we do need the extra AA ..." the admiral mumbled, more to herself than to anyone else in the room.

Finally, the admiral lifted up her cup, finished the rest of her coffee in a single gulp, and sighed.

"Very well, Enterprise. I'll see if I could arrange something."

As the admiral said the last word of that sentence, Zuikaku could see Enterprise's face brightened up considerably. It was obvious she was waiting for those words.

"Ooyodo." the admiral talked into the intercom installed on her desk, calling up her secretary. "I need you in my office. And bring the latest test result of our submarines."

As the admiral was distracted, Zuikaku noticed that Enterprise had taken a few steps closer to her side.

"Hey." the Enterprise said in a barely audible whisper. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Zuikaku whispered back. "They're obviously important to you."

"They're my comrade, yes." Enterprise smiled softly. "But I would never have expected that I could make another one so fast in this country."

"Who, me? _Ow._ "

In response of Zuikaku's honest question, Enterprise fisted her on the shoulder.

"Of course." Enterprise's smile widened, showing a row of well-cared teeth. "You silly bird."


	7. Fitting Out and Fitting In, part 3

"And bring me some more coffee. Get the whole flipping kettle." The admiral barked her final order to the intercom, and returned her attention back to her ships.

"You two are free for now. Dismissed."

"Ma'am!" Both carriers shouted, though Enterprise's was a bit weaker than Zuikaku's in account of her injuries.

Zuikaku also saluted when Enterprise didn't. When Enterprise noticed that Zuikaku was saluting, she hurriedly raised her hand to her forehead, somewhat awkwardly. As far as Zuikaku had learned, personnel of the American military had this tradition where their personnel wouldn't salute indoors or when one of the people involved wasn't wearing a 'cover'/hat, since the one saluted won't be able to return said salute. Neither the admiral or Enterprise were wearing their hats at the time.

However, Admiral Goto had already said to her ships that proper official military etiquette was _not_ to be followed in her base. This might sound too carefree for any military officer, but this particular base for some reason had an especially high number of foreign ships each with their own military traditions, so many in fact that the admiral thought that strict rules of conducts would simply be too distracting to do any effective work. Zuikaku and some other ships didn't exactly agree to this, which was why Zuikaku still saluted even though she knew it won't be returned.

Enterprise didn't know this, though. Zuikaku made a mental note to tell her later.

Before Zuikaku and Enterprise turned towards the door, Zuikaku took a quick glimpse at the wall clock. It already past 1500. that fiasco with Aoba took a bit longer than expected.

Outside the admiral's office, both carriers stopped for a second while deciding where each of them would go next.

Zuikaku was about to suggest that she would escort Enterprise back to the dry dock when she heard a wet, grumbling noise.

"Ah." Enterprise blushed. "Excuse me."

Well, it was a bit late for lunch, and Zuikaku would bet that Enterprise didn't have a great breakfast that morning at sea.

"Can you get back to your room by yourself? I'll get you some food from the kitchen."

"I-"

Enterprise looked like she was about to deny, but then her stomach grumbled again. "Sure. I'll be fine walking by myself, and some food would be nice."

"Anything you'd prefer?"

"Umm...something light?"

"What about tofu, then?"

"That'd be fine, yes." answered Enterprise, clutching her stomach.

"You sure you don't need help reaching your bed? Those injuries look serious, you know?" asked Zuikaku worriedly, stepping closer towards Enterprise.

"It's okay, really. My engineers said that I would be fine if only for walking around the base."

Zuikaku of course, had heard about the legendary American DamCon, but she still couldn't help but think that Enterprise was pushing herself. But then again, Enterprise was a great military vessel and she knew her body best, and Zuikaku had no desire of starting to play white knight and began treating her like a spoiled princess.

"Well, if you say so. But be careful, alright?"

"Yeah, sure. Thanks."

And with that, Enterprise started walking along the corridor that lead from the admiral's office towards the dry dock.

Zuikaku watched closely as Enterprise walked. Examining the way her legs moved. She still had noticeable limp, but considering how badly damaged she was, the fact that she was walking at all was already amazing. Zuikaku would imagine that if she took the same amount damage Enterprise took, at best she would be bedridden for months, or already at the bottom of the ocean.

Zuikaku decided. Reading and being on the receiving end of Dauntless attack run were not enough to fully understand her former enemy. One day she would ask Enterprise if she would allow some of her fairies inside her for some technical exchange.

Not right at that moment, though, as Zuikaku could feel her own stomach grumbling.

Zuikaku made her way towards the cafeteria. The room was almost empty apart from some destroyers, to be expected considering the hour. In that base, eating was scheduled based on ship class according to the admiral's order. Carriers, the unofficial 'elites' of any navy, would eat first, given a fixed menu at a fixed amount adjusted based on the base's current resource level. Then the battleships would come, also with fixed menu, although at relatively gigantic amount. Then the cruisers would come followed by destroyers, subs, and auxiliary ships. The last group would receive the tiniest amount of food, but they could choose their own menu. This system, in theory, would keep the capital ships from hogging all the resource and keep up the morale of, as the admiral called them, the 'workhorse fleet', the cruisers and destroyers that were responsible for daily operations while the capital ships were put in reserve for special missions. The system was flexible, and could be adjusted according to fleet's current needs and objectives.

Of course, this system also meant hell for any capital ships that didn't know how to follow a schedule, like a certain Shoukaku-class that then stood at the counter like a fool, desperately looking through the menu of destroyer foods.

"Quite late for lunch, isn't it?" greeted an unmistakable voice behind Zuikaku. Zuikaku turned, and was greeted by the striking view of the battleship Iowa. A head and a half taller than Zuikaku, and with the bright blonde hair and revealing clothes, Iowa seemed to be actively calling all the attention in the room towards her among the child-like destroyers.

Zuikaku had 'fought' Iowa a couple times during the war, most notably at the battle of Leyte Gulf where Zuikaku managed to lure Iowa, her sister, New Jersey, and almost the entire fleet of carrier-obsessed Admiral Halsey away from the coast of Philippine, leaving the American landing force open for shore bombardment from IJN's heavy hitters including the battleship Yamato. Well, almost open, anyway, if not for the fact that USN destroyers were almost entirely captained by maniacs.

Still, despite their background, both capital ships somehow managed to create a bond of mutual respect with each other soon after Iowa got admitted to the base.

Zuikaku smiled at Iowa. "Same to you Miss Iowa. What are you doing here?"

"Well, since the grey ghost herself is coming, I was thinking about improving our relation with the IJN ships.

"'Our'? As in USN ships?"

"Exactly. Hey!"

Iowa called on the destroyer looking at the food menu beside Zuikaku. She was a Kagerou. Tokitsukaze, if Zuikaku was not mistaken.

"W...what?"

The destroyer trembled as Iowa approached her, dwarfed by the tallest member of the fleet.

Iowa leaned forwards and smiled. Surprisingly soft smile for such an imposing girl.

"Would you like some ice cream?"

"H...huh?"

The destroyer's face turned from fear to confusion. Then, spinning her hand in front of her like a stage magician, Iowa pulled out, seemingly out of thin air, a huge serving of soft serve in an edible cone.

Tokitsukaze's puppy-like face brightened up as Iowa handed her the absolutely massive pile of cold, sugary freshness.

"For me?" The destroyer asked. Zuikaku assumed it was rhetorical.

"Yup." Iowa smiled while straightening herself, making her chest noticeably bounced. "it might be too big for your own thought. So maybe you would like to share it with your friends?"

"Y...yes!" said Tokitsukaze, as she carefully ran towards her sisters sitting at one of the tables at the far end of the cafeteria. "Thank you!" she shouted.

"Remember!" Iowa shouted back. "All American capital ships, including our carriers are equipped with industrial ice cream maker! So be nice to us, aye?!"

The destroyer didn't answer back, however. She was either ignoring the battleship or didn't hear her as she started busily sharing her ice cream with her sisters.

"Bribing children with ice cream? That's pretty low." Zuikaku jokingly accused.

"Hey, I'm utilizing my resource, alright?"

And it was a good resource, a resource called morale.

Another factor that strikingly differed IJN and USN ships was crew comfort. Japanese Navy's _Kantai Kessen_ doctrine never expected their ships to operate far from nearby home bases and would instead counting on luring the American fleet to a decisive battle near the waters of the home islands while crippling them along the way with subs, cruisers, and destroyers operating from bases in conquered territories. Thus, crew comfort would almost always be minimal. Zuikaku's own crew could only dream of proper meals three times a day, let alone a daily ice cream ration.

"Well, suit yourself then. So are you only here for sharing your ice cream with the entire fleet?" Zuikaku spoke as she continued uselessly looking around the menu for a satisfying enough food for a carrier.

"Nah, I don't have enough milk for that." said Iowa, while groping her own chest, for some reason. Zuikaku decided not to think too much about it.

"Say, Zuikaku, you met Enterprise already?" Iowa asked suddenly.

"Yup, talked to her, even." Zuikaku confirmed.

"Oh, she's conscious already? As expected of a Yorktown. Anyway, what do you think of her?"

Zuikaku stopped flipping through the menu, and turned to face Iowa. She noticed immediately that Iowa's expression clearly implied that she was expecting a certain specific answer.

"Well, she's a fine ship. But I don't understand the purpose of this question."

Iowa raised her eyebrow. "A fine ship? That's it? You didn't try to kill her in her sleep or anything?"

"What?!" Zuikaku almost shouted. She was surprised, even offended that Iowa would even suggest such a thing. "No! Of course not, what the heck!?"

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to offend." Iowa apologized profusely. "It's just that, even though my transfer to this base went relatively smoothly..." Iowa mulled, obviously trying to construct the right words. "I don't think Enterprise's would go just as smoothly...if you understand my gist."

Zuikaku understood perfectly.

Iowa was accepted among the IJN ships relatively peacefully and without much trouble. This was mostly because Iowa was a battleship commissioned after the battle of Midway, when aircraft carriers solidified their status as the most important asset of any navy.

Iowa was, like Yamato, born in the wrong era. Her 16-inch guns simply cannot keep up with the planes of a carrier. As a result, during the war she was mostly relegated to shore bombardment duty, and thus, not many IJN ships actually held a personal grudge against Iowa.

Enterprise, however, was a different kettle of fish entirely.

"I see, you're worried about your friend. I could appreciate that." Zuikaku said as she went back to flipping through the menu for the day. "She won't have any problem from me, though."

"Yeah, I'm worried alright." Iowa continued, leaning against the counter. Then, she sighed. "Honestly, I overheard some concerning rumor when she arrived."

Zuikaku froze, suddenly putting all her attention towards Iowa."What kind of rumor?"

"Well, I won't put names to it...but it involved assassination. Pretty sure they were joking, though."

Joking or not, Zuikaku felt a sudden urge to return to Enterprise's side as fast as possible.

"Excuse me!" Zuikaku shouted. "could I get some service, please?!"

Responding To Zuikaku's calling, the curtain that separated the counter from the kitchen swayed, and from there the supply ship Mamiya emerged, still in the process of wiping her sweat from her forehead with a small cloth.

"Yes, can i help you?" asked Mamiya in her usual kind tone.

"Yes. Could I get this in carrier size, please?" asked Zuikaku, pointing at a random tofu-based menu.

"Zuikaku-san? It's a bit late for a carrier lunch, Isn't it?" said Mamiya, understandably confused.

"Well, the one in charge of delivering lunch for the dry dock patient messed up, and now I have a hungry wounded carrier to take care of."

Hearing Zuikaku's explanation, the supply ship smiled wryly.

"Aoba?"

"Aoba."

After that confirmation, Mamiya quietly went back to the kitchen, and after barely a minute she went back out, carrying a simple bento-box wrapped in plain cloth.

"I can't give the ingredients for the destroyers' meal, but I do have a small amount of leftover from the battleships lunchtime."

"Hey, good thing I'm dieting, huh?" Iowa remarked.

"Though I only have enough for one portion, regretfully."

"It's okay. I'm not that hungry anyway." said Zuikaku, taking the lunch-box with both hands. "Thank you. And Iowa?"

"Hm?" the battleship perked up.

"You might want to talk about that rumor with the admiral. It could be nothing, but I'm sure she would like to be prepared." said Zuikaku as she walked past Iowa towards the cafeteria exit.

"Hmm. Sure. Maybe I'd do that." said Iowa indecisively.

Zuikaku was about midway through the exit when Iowa called to her.

"Hey, Turkey!" Iowa mildly shouted. "Take care of her for me, aye?"

Zuikaku stood still for a moment at the door frame, before giving Iowa a quick and silent thumbs-up and disappeared through the door, leaving Mamiya and Iowa at the counter.

"She's a good girl." remarked Mamiya before she quietly went back to the kitchen.

"Hmm." Iowa mumbled, mostly to herself, now that she's alone. "Guess I'm worrying over nothing."

Having nothing else to do, Iowa decided to continue her tour sharing her ice cream around the base.


	8. Justified

The light was off when Zuikaku entered the dry dock. Suspecting Enterprise could be asleep, Zuikaku decided not to look for the light switch. Instead, she closed her eye, letting it adapting to the darkness for a couple of seconds. Back in the war, at the opening months when the American radars and tactics were still under development, Japanese sailors were the master of the night, utilizing the mark 1 eyeballs to their utmost effect. Although this advantage mostly benefited destroyers, as a kanmusu Zuikaku had found herself blessed with an excellent eyesight.

Interestingly, a lot of other kanmusu had decided that they're still going to keep wearing glasses even when their eyesights were perfectly fine. They claimed it was for style point, although Zuikaku could never understand such appeal.

Opening her one functional eye, Zuikaku quickly followed her memory to guide her towards Enterprise's bed. Most of the beds in the dry dock were still empty. Admiral Goto was, in Zuikaku's judgment at least, a very careful leader. In fact, she's almost a bit paranoid, always expecting ambushes that sometimes did not exist. However, although she was often berated for her perceived lack of tactical aggressiveness, the damages suffered by her ships in combat were almost always superficial and could be repaired with a quick bath or a trip to Akashi's workshop. The dry dock was mostly used for, as the admiral had called it, a "failed dice roll", or a very bad luck on her part when the enemy managed to score a disproportionate amount of damage compared to the amounts of shots being fired.

And Zuikaku was grateful for that, and was hoping that the dry dock would continue to be underused. However, on that particular day, Zuikaku was glad that the dry dock was occupied, and that said occupant was there and not instead at the bottom of the Pacific.

Walking silently in the dark, Zuikaku slowly made her way towards the end of the room where Enterprise's bed were located. Even with an excellent night-vision, Zuikaku still only could manage to make out the outlines of the bright white bed sheets around her to guide her along the way. As she got closer to Enterprise's bed, however, she noticed another distinct silhouette, looming close near the foot of the bed like a reaper waiting for another perfectly scheduled death.

Zuikaku could also barely see the outline of a body on the bed which she assumed was the sleeping Enterprise. Zuikaku had no idea who the other person was, but judging from the bright white kimono, she could be a nurse or one of Akashi's or Yuubari's assistants.

"Excuse me." Zuikaku whispered politely. "Is she asleep?"

The figure jolted slightly, making it clear that it was unaware that Zuikaku was in the room with it. But it quickly composed itself.

"Yes. She is." The figure whispered back with a calm tone so familiar to Zuikaku.

"Kaga-san." Zuikaku responded in a neutral tone, trying not to show her surprise.

"Fifth carrier division."

For a moment, both carriers stared at the silhouette of each other in total darkness while a third carrier was sound asleep, completely unaware of her surrounding. Zuikaku could hear a soft snore from the Enterprise. She found it oddly calming.

Then the shadow in front of Zuikaku shifted her gaze downwards, towards the cloth sack that's wrapping the food Zuikaku had brought from the cafeteria.

"You're not intending to eat that food by yourself, I take it?" Kaga whispered, and Zuikaku could feel the temperature of the room dropped a few degrees.

"No." Zuikaku answered calmly. "I'm bringing this for a friend."

"A...friend?" Kaga almost barked at Zuikaku, as if she didn't believe her own ears.

"Yes. Friend. Unlike you, Kaga-san, I don't hold onto petty grudges. I left it all behind me."

Zuikaku didn't know how, but she could feel Kaga's glare piercing through the darkness and straight into her soul. When she realized that her body had started to shiver involuntarily, she tightened her fingers into a fist, desperately trying to calm herself. She felt like a mouse in front of a snake, but she wouldn't let Kaga smell any fear from her.

"Petty grudge?" Kaga took a step forward, closer to Zuikaku. Her footstep was almost silent, and Zuikaku found herself taking a step back without realizing. "She killed our people, Zuikaku."

Zuikaku took a deep, silent breath. Calming herself, she forced her brain to make an argument.

"So were we, Kaga-san. We killed many of her people, and plenty more with impunity. Or do you actually believe that we were inherently more morally justified than her?" asked Zuikaku, managing to put some challenging tone in her words, a challenge of which Kaga gladly accepted.

"We were just trying to be seen as equal." She began. "You think the Americans came to the Pacific to save the indigenous people? To save the Javanese? Or the New Guineans? Or Gods help me, the Filipinos? Of whom everyone above ten were slaughtered by their own hands less than half a century before? Even today they berate us for not teaching our war atrocities to our children, yet how many Americans do you think actually know about such man as general Jacob Smith?"

Kaga didn't yell, or even changing her general tone in the slightest. But Zuikaku still sensed her heartbeat rising with each word in that sentence.

"Morally justified? Do you think that the Dutch and the British were justified lording over the Malayans? Or Americans over the Filipinos? Or the Australians over New Guinea? Their colony allowed them to be a great nation, but what did they do when we tried to join their ranks?"

Kaga stopped, waiting if Zuikaku was going to make a retort, When she realized Zuikaku wasn't going to open her mouth, she continued.

"They shunned us. Calling us bucked toothed, yellow cavemen unfit to rule over our own land, let alone ruling over others. Every time we managed to gain a colony after the sacrifice of our men, after countless widows and fatherless children, all they needed to do to take it all away was a few strokes of a pen on paper."

Kaga took a step back away from Zuikaku, taking in air to continue her speech.

"So we tried again. We tried to colonize China. Just like literally every other country worth mentioning at the time. They again tried to stop us with letters and strong words, but this time, we didn't care. So they blockaded us. Without oil we decided to push south, to the oil fields of Dutch East Indies."

Kaga's voice was getting significantly louder this time, and Zuikaku found her eye silently glancing towards the sleeping figure of Enterprise.

"But the south was protected. Protected by the only fleet in the world that could strategically challenge our ships in direct combat."

"Pearl Harbor." Zuikaku whispered.

"Yes. To this day I regret that I've failed to kill her in my first strike."

Kaga didn't make a single gesture, but Zuikaku didn't even need to think to know who she's referring to.

"I am not saying that we're justified. I am saying that _nobody_ was justified. Yet the world only remembers us and the Germans. And that's only because nobody cares about the Italians."

"Because we lost." Zuikaku found her mouth continuing Kaga's words without her permission.

"Exactly."

Kaga once again took a step forward, but not towards Zuikaku. Instead, she started walking towards the door, stopping when she had her back towards Zuikaku.

"Don't worry. I'm a professional. I would follow the admiral's order without question and work with her to the best of my ability, but it doesn't mean that I have to like it." Kaga continued walking towards the door. "And Zuikaku?" called Kaga again without slowing down her walk.

"Yes?"

"Leaving it all behind would prime you for a backstab. Be careful who you befriend."

By the last Word, Kaga had already disappeared from the door.

Zuikaku was left alone with the sleeping Enterprise. Well, at least she looked like she was sleeping.

"So," Said Zuikaku, seemingly to nobody. "What do you think?"

"You knew?" a voice whispered from under the blanket.

"I honestly don't believe anyone could stay asleep with someone talking about them so passionately and so close." Zuikaku moved and sat on the bed next to Enterprise's. "Brought you food. Hope you like curry. The only thing I could find at this hour."

"Well, at least I could eat it with a spoon."

Enterprise took the boxed food from Zuikaku, and started eating.

"Do you need me to turn on the light?"

"Nah, I'm a CV(N)." Enterprise said between bites.

"I thought it was the other Enterprise?"

"No, no." Enterprise swallowed. "N, in a bracket. I'm a night carrier."

"Ah, right." Sendai would probably love her. That's one more ship that probably wouldn't try to kill her in her sleep, at least.

"So that's Kaga, huh?" asked Enterprise rhetorically after taking another voracious bite. She must've been very hungry indeed, half of the box was already empty when she finished this sentence. "I'm glad that you found me first, Crane. That girl sounded like she would have executed me on the spot."

"She wouldn't do that." Zuikaku scratched her head. "Probably."

"Still, she made a rather good point." Enterprise continued, sounding a lot calmer that Zuikaku would have expected considering the subject matter.

"Say, Crane." Said Enterprise, looking down in her then mostly empty food box."During the war, Do you remember ever seeing my planes strafing Japanese sailors in the water?"

Zuikaku was surprised at how nonchalantly Enterprise asked this question, but she quickly recovered.

"Well, I remember that a few of my pilots were strafed by Hellcats. Some were in the water and some were still dangling from their parachutes, but I wouldn't know if they're your planes, though."

"I see."

It was dark, so there was no way for Zuikaku to know if Enterprise had actually changed her expression. But she sounded somewhat sad.

"What about yours, then?" Zuikaku asked back. "Remember any of our old war crime?"

Again, she was surprised about how easily they both were talking about the subject. Imagine how much world conflict could be prevented if everyone could talk about old grudge like they were talking about the weather.

"Well, our doctrine didn't encourage throwing our life away for the glory of Roosevelt or anything like that, but I knew that at least one of my pilot shot himself in his raft when he was about to be captured by the jap...your navy."

"Our reputation was that bad, Huh?" asked Zuikaku, leaning on the wall and crossing her arms in front of her.

"Even today I'm wondering if he was doing the right thing or not." Enterprise shifted her attention from her box and to the ceiling, looking at nothing in particular.

"Well, our reputation was rather well-deserved."

"Still," Enterprise turned her head, facing Zuikaku. "For all it's worth, I'm sorry."

"Yeah." Zuikaku suddenly felt all the weight of the day fell on her, and she collapsed onto the bed. "Me too."

"Crane? You okay?"

Zuikaku could hear Enterprise's concern, but her one remaining eye was already half closed.

"Yeah...I'm just..." Zuikaku tried to answer, but her tongue was heavy.

"I need a freaking drink."

And she would've get it, too, if the gentle caress of the mattress didn't soon put her to sleep.


	9. Flashback

Her pilots were readied, she had her tank half-full, enough for the return trip. Her enlisted men were tense as trees, but still they worked with astonishing efficiency. Inside her bridge, her officers were giving orders, somewhat unnecessary, given that most of her crew had already memorized their training so much so that they could have their brains removed and their corpses would still be fully capable of continuing the mission.

Her radiomen were somewhat enjoying themselves, listening to Honolulu's various radio stations, with subjects ranging from Christian talk show, business, and music. Many of her crew enjoyed western music, and so did Zuikaku. The one they played that day had a calm, conservative tone, yet full of energy, An odd combination, but Zuikaku found it refreshing.

This music and the radio wave that delivered it would act as an extra guiding hand for her first wave of air strike.

"Is the war declared yet?" she asked to her fellow ships. Mentally, of course, because even if she had developed a soul, she's still in essence a floating hunk of metal without a mouth.

"We already sent a telegram to our embassy in Washington, they should've received it by now." Said Nagato, far away back from the main carriers location, ready to cover their retreat.

"But we're attacking a bit too soon, don't you think? What if they don't receive it? Wouldn't this be an undeclared war?"

"They blockaded our supplies and froze our assets." answered Kaga at the forefront of the formation. "I'd say they started this."

Well, a blockade was often generally accepted as an act of war, but...

"It's their own oil, shouldn't they be free to sell it to whoever they want? Also, they have only frozen our economic assets in their own land."

Kaga sighed. Figuratively, of course, represented by a small puff from her sideway smokestacks.

"Zuikaku, do you know why we are here?"

"Well..."

"Because of their blockade, we will soon need a steady supply of oil that we could call our own. China doesn't have the infrastructure necessary, that's why we're going south." Kaga started. "And they're going to try to stop us. They simply cannot fathom a non-white race to be an equal colonial ruler."

Zuikaku noticed Kaga increasing her speed by a knot.

"And that's why we're attacking first."

Zuikaku wanted to disagree, but even as young as she was, she was wise enough to know that her country had committed too much to stop at that point. She could argue that her country didn't need to go to China, or that starting a war with the United States was not exactly a good idea. And she would not be alone in that sentiment, as the battleship Nagato, the flagship of Admiral Yamamoto, and a few other ships which had developed a soul were also opposed to the idea of creating another battlefront with the Americans. Even the army thought it was a bad idea.

Even so, she knew that opinion was in the minority. The IJN would do anything to take the glory away from the IJA in china, and Zuikaku also found herself unable to argue in support of the fairness of the then current international system, which was, at least to the Japanese, was largely biased towards the already established nations.

So she stayed silent, keeping the only noise coming out of her to be the sounds of her crew and engines, ready to put her name in history, for better or worse.

Under Akagi's command, all the carriers turn into the wind, and with outstanding coordination, they sent their planes away, with each air group leaving their respective carrier deck almost within a second from each other. Zuikaku felt a sense of melancholy as the sound of the roaring engines of dive bombers and their limited fighter cover mixed with the sound of the Pacific waves hitting her hull.

Her country had the best torpedoes among the navies of the world. But torpedoes would play only a limited role in this operation, since they're going to attack a fleet anchored in shallow waters. The few torpedo equipped bombers from the first and second carrier divisions would need to fly especially low in order to reduce the cruise depth of their torpedoes.

The majority of the bombers were equipped with armor piercing bombs, to sink the battleships and carriers of the opposing force, and to damage the various airfields and bases around the isles. As Zuikaku planes passed the calm community of Hawaii she, from her pilots' perspective, noticed that a few of the people below were not that different from her own crew.

She wondered how those Japanese-Americans, both the ones born on their soil or as an immigrant, would be treated by their own neighbors in the years following her attack. She knew for a fact that they had a few spies in Hawaii as of this point, who provided critical intelligence for this particular mission.

Like where to put their submarines, for example.

The submarines were the first of their force that was noticed by the enemy force. But their communication was sluggish, and their planes were not prepared until her aircraft were already strafing their soldiers.

Zuikaku's planes moved in towards the army air bases, focusing most of her planes on Wheeler Air Base as was instructed by the high command based on the intelligence provided by their spies. She began bombing and strafing both soft flesh and hard steel, breaking them beyond repair. The resistance of the enemy was pathetic, giving Zuikaku enough leeway to let her mind wandered.

In an ideal condition, for each death caused by her, at least two people would want to seek revenge, and if the person killed had a loving family, his children would want revenge. Her wife would work harder in their factories, constructing ammo and equipment exceeding her quota in hope that one of them would kill the one responsible for making her a widow...

Suddenly, she heard Kaga's panicked anguish.

"Where are their carriers!?" she shouted.

Then Zuikaku noticed that no carrier was present anywhere in the vicinity.

Zuikaku started to panic. Was this an ambush? Did the enemy knew that they're coming? Was it a military feint, drawing most of the enemy force to break them in a single blow? Or was it a political one? Letting the attack to happen, allowing the Americans to enter into a just war and demonizing the Japanese while keeping their most important assets safe?

The latter was rather unlikely given the general unpreparedness of the enemy, but Zuikaku was not thinking clearly.

"Forget about the carriers! Just target the battleships!" commanded the flagship Akagi.

Zuikaku split her second attack wave to attack Hickam Airfield and the battleship row alongside most of the planes of the first and second carrier divisions. Zuikaku's planes were concentrated on the _USS Maryland_ and the _USS California._ Most of these ships would be stranded in shallow waters after their bombing and be re-floated and repaired within a few months, as was the nature of attacking a fleet moored in harbor with repair facilities literally within walking distance.

But it would give her country time, crucial time that they would use to solidify their defense in the pacific and hopefully force the Americans to sue for peace on their terms.

Hopefully.

The carriers of the _Kido Butai_ unleashed their ordinance onto one of the battleships that was trying to run for the open sea. Zuikaku watched with slightly morbid amusement as the battleship beached herself when she realized that she would block the entrance to the harbor if she was to continue trying to escape under the relentless bombing and sunk, disabling the port for good.

So far, the enemy resistance had been minimal, as to be expected. Most of their experienced pilots and newest technology were being deployed in Britain as of the Americans 'Germany First' policy, and the force stationed in Hawaii were mostly to act as a deterrent, a show of force to 'scare' the Japanese into ceasing hostilities in the Pacific. Yet again another proof of western arrogance and ignorance of the Japanese resolve, as some of her countrymen had called it.

"Zuikaku! Above!" her sister called, just in time for one of Zuikaku's bombers to turn into a massive fireball.

Zuikaku realized that she had been engaged.

Her Zero fighters moved in, expecting enemy's Peashooters, P-40 or F2F, or maybe some F4F, but instead...

"Bombers?" Zuikaku heard Kaga sneered. "Stupidity itself."

One fighter squadron from Kaga's air group separated itself from the rest and start engaging what Zuikaku's pilots could identify as Dauntless naval scout bombers. At that point, it was clear that the fact the American carriers were not present was not an indication of a cleverly planned ambush. The carriers were definitely nearby, but they're also clearly just as unprepared as the rest of the enemy fleet.

Kaga's fighters immediately let out a hail of bullets and cannons fire towards the seemingly vulnerable bombers, but their tail gunners started opening up, wounding one Zero and driving away the rest.

If Kaga actually had a face at the time, Zuikaku reckon she would be able to see her surprised expression.

The first casualty suffered by the enemy bomber squadrons was not actually the result of the excellence of Kaga's fighter pilot, but to the stray flak fire from Pearl Harbor's own ground based anti-air defense. The bombers were being targeted by their own side. Zuikaku could figuratively hear Kaga and few other ships starting to laugh.

But even then, Zuikaku could see the resolve within the pilots and gunners of the Dauntless group. They did not try to run as the imperial propaganda had led them to believe they would. Instead, a few of them directly engaged the Zeros, while few started engaging the bombers targeting the battleships. scout bombers, purposely engaging a thorough-bred air superiority fighters.

A group of Zuikaku's own Zeros engaged one of the bombers. Dropping his bombs in the empty sea below him, the Dauntless' pilot started to engage in a dogfight with the Zeros, and to Zuikaku's surprise, the lone bomber managed to shoot down one Zero before being shredded by the others.

' _Who are you?'_ Zuikaku thought.

When a number of battleships were already sufficiently on fire and Pearl Harbor lied in ruin, Akagi called a retreat.

"We should continue." Protested Kaga. "The carriers are definitely nearby, and we could attack their oil reserve."

"No, we're not engaging in search and destroy so close to an enemy base." commanded Akagi. "And also we should stick to the plan. The oil tanks were not in our plan. This operation is a success and we have accomplished most of our objectives. We're going home."

Under protest from kaga and few other ships, Akagi led the withdrawal of the fast carrier task force back towards Japanese waters.

As Zuikaku recovered the last of her airplane, she took one last gaze at the flaming Pearl Harbor. There were some brave people there. Somewhat incompetent and undertrained with outdated equipment, but brave nonetheless.

Zuikaku was especially curious about the carrier of which the Dauntless must had disembarked from, seeing how most of the airfields nearby were on fire at the time.

As Zuikaku's planes were engaging the Dauntless, she could feel anger, vengeance, sorrow and regret emanating from each roll, dive and turn the Dauntless made as they engaged in a futile combat that could only lead to their deaths. But she also could taste determination and willpower within them that were almost...Japanese.

What kind of carrier would such mad pilots call home?

Whoever that carrier was, Zuikaku felt that she would see her again. In another life, perhaps the two of them could be friends, or at least allies, and Zuikaku would very much like that.

But not today, not in this life.

Unbeknownst to Zuikaku at the time, said carrier would be the most powerful force that drive the war of the Pacific, and she and her sister would stand in history as the only worthy foe...of the carrier Enterprise.


	10. The Morning After

"Oi! wake up, wouldn't you? Your sister's looking for you."

A stern yet motherly voice woke Zuikaku from her slumber. Even before her eyes were fully opened, Zuikaku recognized it as belonging to the experimental ship Yuubari. Groggy and confused from the sight of unfamiliar ceiling, Zuikaku didn't immediately wake up, but stayed in her awkward sleeping position, on the bed perpendicular to the intended posture, for half a minute before asking;

"Damn, how long was I asleep?"

"Slightly more than 12 hours, give or take." Another voice, Zuikaku recognized as Enterprise's, answered. "Good morning, Crane."

"Mmph, morning."

Zuikaku wasn't exactly feeling her best at that moment. 12 hours sleep meant she didn't take her bath, which felt absolutely contrarian to her identity as a Japanese. To put it into a description of how she was feeling at the time, imagine going through an entire day of military boot camp through salted mud and then going straight to bed. It felt...sticky.

Her awkward sleeping position also did not benefit her chance of not being a hunchback when she grows older. That is, if kanmusu could age in the first place. The research division was still looking into that, alongside little tidbits like if they could get pregnant or not. Zuikaku had heard that they're making great progress on the latter, using volunteer kanmusu and a system called 'provisional marriage', though it hadn't been introduced to her base yet so Zuikaku didn't know exactly how that worked.

"Your sister was really worried when you didn't come back to your room by late evening. She raised quite a fuss." Zuikaku could hear the irritation in Yuubari's voice, even when her own eyes refusing to stay opened. "Demanding a search party and everything. Really, you should apologize to her."

The feeling of guilt weighed her down even more, and now Zuikaku found it even harder to get off from the bed.

"Sorry, didn't know what happened. Must've been more tired than I thought."

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to." Zuikaku could hear Yuubari sniffing the air. "and I would suggest doing it while you're not smelling like a spoilt meat."

"Well, to be fair to her a lot of things happened yesterday." defended Enterprise.

"Thanks, E."

"You're welcome, Crane."

When Zuikaku finally managed to open her eyes long enough, she saw Yuubari's green haired head tilting.

"Wait a minute...Crane? E? you two were already that close?"

"Nah." Zuikaku groaned. "We both just found it easier...phonetically."

"Yeah, our names are just not that easy to pronounce in our respective tongue."

If Yuubari was about to comment on that fact, she held it back. Zuikaku wondered if Enterprise was aware of the cultural significance of using people's first names or nicknames in Japan. Well, if she did then she probably wouldn't care, based on Zuikaku's assessment of her personality thus far.

"In any case, you should take a bath first. You stench." Yuubari prompted.

"Really?I don't think she smells that bad." commented Enterprise, sniffing the air. "In fact, I actually kind of like her smell."

That one comment jump-started Zuikaku's consciousness. Her sleepiness immediately went away. But still, for some reason, she decided not to immediately wake up, but instead to grab a pillow and hide her face under it.

"She kinda smells of teak. I like it."

Did she even realize how weird that sounded?

"Really? She just smells of sweat to me."

When Zuikaku was sure her face was not visibly blushing, she removed the pillow from her face and rise into a seated position, with not little amount of creaking from her joints.

"I think I'm just going to take my bath." she declared, trying to sound as calm as possible.

"That would be for the best, yes. Talking about bath..." Yuubari switched her attention towards Enterprise. "You sure you will be okay by yourself? Don't need help with re-bandaging and other stuff?"

"No, I'll be fine. Not my first time doing first aid."

It took a while for Zuikaku to understand what the two ships were talking about until she noticed the small basin on the floor filled with steaming water and a towel wipe submerged at the bottom of it. Also, scattered around the foot of Enterprise's bed there were a bunch of boxes labeled as medical supplies. There was also a portable curtain tucked near the far side of the bed.

"Just spread the green salve thinly across the burns, and the clear one on the bruises. Don't use too much. And if any of your wounds open again don't hesitate to call for help. It's a bit hard to see, but there are actually buzzers near the head of all the beds here."

"Found it." Confirmed enterprise after rummaging slightly around the top side of her bed.

"If you need some privacy just use the curtain. Your spare clothes are in that bag over there.". Yuubari pointed at a bag located amongst the scattered medical containers.

"Got it. Thanks." Said Enterprise with a polite smile.

"Well, then, if we're done here," proclaimed Yuubari while puffing her chest slightly. "I have other things to do."

Yuubari took one step towards the door before she immediately stopped.

"Oh right. One more thing. Zuikaku?"

"What?"

"You might want to just take a quick bath, a shower, maybe. Overheard from Ooyodo that the admiral might be calling for you soon."

Zuikaku raised an eyebrow, and she noticed that Enterprise did, too.

"Why?" Zuikaku asked.

"Well, the submarines had just come back from their scouting mission an hour ago, and apparently they brought good news."

Zuikaku took a quick glance at Enterprise, and as expected, the American carrier barely able to hide her smile.

"I also have noticed that logistic has been awfully busy. Another mission might be imminent, so you probably want to hurry."

"I see." Zuikaku nodded. "Thanks for the info."

"You're welcome. Now, I really need to go."

And with that, Yuubari hauled herself out of the dry dock, leaving Zuikaku and Enterprise alone.

"Thank goodness, huh?" Zuikaku smiled at Enterprise.

"Y...yeah."

Zuikaku noticed that Enterprise was looking down, once again hiding her red eyes under her bang.

"Aww, please don't cry." Zuikaku teased.

"W...what?" Enterprise stuttered, clearly holding back a sob. "I'm not..." Enterprise raised a hand to her face and started wiping her eyes.

"Hey, it's okay." Placated Zuikaku. "Take your time. Anyway, I really need to take a bath. I feel like a slug."

Zuikaku was about to stand up when Enterprise grabbed her by the sleeve. Zuikaku turned back, and was suddenly faced with a pair of big, tearful red eyes looking up at her from below.

"Hey, Crane, if you're going to the admiral's office, could I come with you too?" Requested Enterprise with a soft voice, almost like a child begging their parent for toys.

"I..." Zuikaku mulled. "I don't know. I'm sure the admiral would prefer for you to just sleep and heal up."

"I'm fine. And I need to know what's going on, or the tension is going to drive me crazy." Enterprise's voice went higher an octave, now she really sounded like a child. "Please?"

Enterprise expression turned into something that really should only be allowed for a destroyer.

"I...Okay."

Zuikaku found herself agreeing almost on reflex. Using that kind of expression on her was just cheating, dammit!

"But don't push yourself, alright?"

"Of course."

Enterprise finally let go of Zuikaku's sleeve. Her face seemed to have calmed down a little.

"Well, then I guess I should prepare too."

"Prepare? Prepare for whaa..."

Zuikaku last word was elongated as her tongue suddenly froze in her mouth.

Because...well, there's no roundabout way to say it, but to just state that Enterprise had just taken her top off.

Enterprise still had her bandages covering most of her torso, so by any means, Zuikaku shouldn't be as flustered as she was.

But she was.

"I'm going to take my bath quickly. I still have to re-wrap my bandages." stated Enterprise as she started tugging on her bandages.

"I...wha...?" Zuikaku froze up. Her entire fairy crew froze up. There's no doctrine known to her to deal with this particular situation.

"Hmm? Crane? You okay? You didn't catch a cold, did you? Last night was rather chilly."

Enterprise leaned forward and grabbed Zuikaku by the hand.

"Hmm. You're pretty warm. Maybe you need a check up."

Zuikaku's fairy captain was the first to wake up from her daze, who immediately karate-chopped the helmsman, which bitch-slapped the speed crank so hard backwards that the officer in charge of the engine room drop-kicked the chief engineer, who elbow-dropped the head stoker to set the engine to IMMEDIATE RETREAT.

"Right... I might do that." said Zuikaku, as calm as possible when her heart was about to spectacularly blow up.

As soon as Enterprise let go of her hand, Zuikaku immediately made an 180-degree turn, and head to the exit.

"See you later, E." Said Zuikaku, merely on reflex politeness.

"Later, Crane." Enterprise might had waved, but Zuikaku didn't plan to stick around to look.

The last thing Zuikaku saw before she slammed the door was Enterprise reaching towards the portable curtain.

 _You should've done that the first time, you silly carrier!_


	11. Planning

A/N: Apparently we're going to have a USN CV officially implemented in the game soon. If E ever becomes canon, I think I would heavily edit this story, or rewrite it completely, or maybe even scrap it completely and start writing new story featuring canon E.

Cheers.

.

. .

"Why is she here?" asked one of the ships in the office.

Surprisingly, it was not Kaga that was protesting Enterprise's presence in the room. In fact, Kaga was the one standing closest to Enterprise next to Zuikaku. Her expression was calm, without even a hint of malice. Guess she was serious about that professionalism.

The admiral's office was pretty spacious, but with the numbers of submarines, carriers, cruisers and a battleship in the room, it felt absolutely too small. The admiral herself was seated in her seat, surrounded on each side by the secretary ship Ooyodo, a tall, all-business looking woman with long black hair and glasses, and the light cruiser Tenryuu, a short haired, one eyed teenager with the stature of an active youth, holding her sword on her shoulder. alongside them in the room, There were battleship Nagato, carrier Zuikaku, Enterprise, and Kaga, and all the submarines involved in the scouting mission, and also one that didn't.

Among all the ships present, The one protesting was in fact one of the submarines that were just returning from their night mission. It was Imuya. The pink haired submarine still had her waist length ponytail dripping water onto the office's floor. The sub didn't have her rigging with her, but still she looked like she's about to launch a torpedo down the side of the American carrier.

Zuikaku noticed Enterprise shuffled sideways to put Zuikaku directly between her and the submarine.

Imuya, as Zuikaku understood it, was the ship that practically sunk Enterprise's older sister, the USS Yorktown. After hundreds of planes shot down, both Japanese and American, the sea around the American fleet at Midway was so full of debris that the sub managed to sneak in close without being detected, and damaged the wounded veteran beyond any hope of salvage.

This was awkward. It was clear as day judging by how many times a week Zuikaku had heard her bragging about it that Imuya took pride on 'avenging' the first and second carrier divisions at Midway. And then Enterprise was there in the room with her, well within striking distance. Imagine a serial killer broke into your home and slit the throats of your father, mother, and entire extended family in 7 minutes, and then that guy turned out to be your room mate and you could do nothing about it.

Zuikaku realized that it was a terrible analogy. She's glad that nobody in the room could read her mind.

"She's a wreck, she has nothing to do with this operation." The submarine continued.

"Well, they are my escort, so I think this operation is entirely my business." Enterprise declared somewhat aggressively, with its intimidating effect somewhat diminished by the fact she's practically hiding behind Zuikaku, and that she's at the time wearing clothes less suitable for a war machine as they were for a random college girl. A plain black shirt, blue trainer pants, and a pair of white gym shoes.

"Ah, so you left your comrade to die and now you're feeling guilty about it, is that it?"

Ouch.

Zuikaku saw Enterprise's ayes widening. For a moment she saw her mouth trembling, searching for a decent comeback. When she couldn't find it, Zuikaku saw her hand turning into a fist. Her stance turned aggressive and it was clear that Enterprise was about to jump the submarine, her wounds be damned.

"Why you-!"

"Hey, hey, easy!" Zuikaku moved in, putting herself more directly between the two ships. At the same time, Zuikaku also noticed that the majority of the ships in the room, previously staying silent, were readying to move in to break up the imminent fight.

"Enough. Both of you."

Zuikaku was prepared to hold Enterprise down before Kaga's stern voice echoed throughout the cramped room.

"The admiral is about to speak."

"But, Kaga-san! She's-" Imuya was about to protest when Kaga raised her hand, stopping her.

"I don't care." said Kaga. She had not raise her voice, but it still sounded like she had give an order through a megaphone. "Our opinion about each other are of no consequence to the mission. You're acting like an amateur, submarine."

Zuikaku could almost hear Kaga holding back. Usually Kaga would be more than happy to voice her opinion to the world without restraint, mission or no. But Zuikaku guessed that Kaga had build a new commitment after their talk in the dry dock.

Zuikaku could see Imuya jolting back slightly when Kaga called her an amateur.

"I..." The submarine looked at Kaga with unclear expression, and then gave a vicious glare at Enterprise before finally conceding. "My apologize, Kaga-san." she bowed slightly. "It was unbecoming of me."

"Hmmh." Kaga grunted, completely dismissing the submarine. Instead, she turned towards the admiral.

...who was completely absorbed in her glass of steaming coffee.

"Hmm. Milk and honey. I guess going light once in a while is fine too."

It took a few seconds before the admiral noticed the sudden silence in the room and realized that she was expected to start talking.

"Oh, you guys finished already?" asked the admiral, sounding genuinely disappointed. "Too bad. It was interesting to watch."

The admiral could be somewhat absent-minded at times. Zuikaku suspected that it was caused by the fact that her refusal of sleep had gone well past the level of 'dedication to duty and country' and reached the level of 'Her own subordinates start to speculate that she is, in fact, a homunculus'. The bags under her eyes looked absolutely terrible, and her skin went paler and paler everyday from staying in the office too much. Her body looked like it was about to crumble inside her uniform.

"Uh... about the mission, ma'am?" Zuikaku asked.

"Ah, right."

The admiral tried to stand up, but then decided that she couldn't be bothered and went back to her seat.

"Goya, Could you repeat your report, please?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

A submarine walked to the middle of the room. A Peach haired girl, I-58, or Goya for short. She was the leader of the midnight scouting mission.

The submarine pulled out a stack of pictures from a bag she was carrying, showing a bunch of unclear pictures that Zuikaku recognized as wreckages of Abyssal creatures, taken at the break of dawn.

"During our expedition, we've confirmed that the area where Enterprise-san was retrieved is in range of the enemy land based installation that we've had previously discovered."

Behind the submarine, the secretary Ooyodo opened a large scale map of the local sea area and put it on the admiral's desk. It was large enough that everyone inside the room could easily take a good look at it.

The admiral took out a marker and circled a small island well off the coast of Japan.

"That island...isn't that the base responsible for the naval blockade of our southern sea? A _Hime_ class guards it, if I'm not mistaken." commented the battleship Nagato. Standing near the door, her muscular figure made the black haired battleship looked like an unyielding sentry, incidentally giving the rest of the ships in the room a sense of security.

Enterprise looked at Zuikaku questioningly.

"We tried to break that blockade a couple of times before." explained Zuikaku. "always failed."

Goya continued, and Zuikaku turned her attention back towards the submarine.

"Similar to our previous observation, they have a formidable force arranged in interlocking battle lines, each supporting each other."

The admiral took her marker again, and drew three lines between the circled island and the naval base.

"But something was different and inconsistent with our previous reports. We've noticed a considerable decay in their defensive line. For example, they no longer have as many battleships as they had a week ago."

Goya started to flip through her photos, showing the corpses of abyssal battleships.

"It was clearly visible that great amount of damage has been suffered by the enemy fleet. We also suffered minimal hindrance from the enemy air cover and destroyers, with most of them concentrated around the enemy land-based facility."

"That means..." said Enterprise.

"Hmm. Your escort put up a valiant battle." Said the battleship Nagato. The considerably massive battleship had somehow managed to sneak up behind Enterprise. "Whether they're alive or not, you should feel honored." said Nagato as she put a hand on Enterprise's shoulder. Her massive hand looked like it could easily crush Enterprise bones like a biscuit.

"No, they're still alive." said Enterprise defiantly. "Right?"

As if actively trying to not break the American carrier's hope, Goya showed another picture.

It was an atrociously blurry picture, but it clearly showed a group of kanmusu.

"The amounts of wreckages in the water allowed us to sneak in behind enemy lines without too much trouble. And we managed to spot what looked like a considerably large flotilla of foreign kanmusu."

Enterprise's face brightened.

"Unfortunately, before we managed to make contact, their destroyers started firing on us."

Enterprise's face darkened.

"it was to be expected." The cruiser Tenryuu spoke. The destroyer leader had a considerable knowledge on submarine warfare, mostly from being sunk by one. "They were in hostile waters, and suddenly their sonar detected a group of submarines. I'd be a bit jumpy too."

"Doesn't mean they could get away from it, though. Right, admiral? You're going to punish them when they arrive, yeah?" prodded the submarine I-19, her blue twin-tails had a considerable singe on them.

"We'll see." said the admiral bluntly.

Enterprise looked guilty, even though she herself had done nothing wrong.

"Anyway..." Goya continued. "Their anti-submarine barrage was too intense for us to surface and establish radio contact."

The submarine service was often called 'the silent service' not only because they're, ideally, operating stealthily, but it was also because radio signal generally did terrible job traveling through a highly conductive substance like salt water.

"As the division commander, I judged our situation as too perilous to continue and chose to withdraw."

Goya put her pictures back into her little bag. She turned towards the admiral and gave a salute.

"And thus conclude my report." she said, before joining back with her fellow submarines at the edge of the room.

"Thank you, I-58. You and your team can go and take a bath. Nimu, you stay here."

"Y...yes, ma'am!"

Nimu was one of the submarines in the room. However, she didn't participate in the night scouting mission. Instead, the admiral had her called in the middle of her breakfast, as evident by the bit of rice stuck at the edge of her mouth.

When Goya and her submarines already out of the room, the admiral began talking to the rest of the ships in the room. "As you can see, although the enemy defense line was partially damaged, possibly by the action of Enterprise's escort, they still possess a considerable fire power from their ships and land-based aircraft and artillery."

The admiral then drew two circles on the map, both near the coast of the naval base.

"Our rescue plan would be executed by two forces, 'decoy' and 'infiltrator', with some auxiliary forces to act as support."

The admiral wrote an 'I' and a 'D' within the two circles.

"Zuikaku, Nagato, Tenryuu, Nimu. Come forward."

The four ships silently made their way to the front of the admiral's desk.

"Zuikaku?"

Zuikaku perked up.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"How's your eye?"

For a moment Zuikaku considered lying to secure her position in the operation, but then she decided against it.

"My main range finder is damaged. My anti air defense is not operating at optimum capacity." Zuikaku said, bluntly and honestly.

"Do you believe that you could still lead the decoy force?" asked the admiral again.

Zuikaku mulled. Should she risk herself? Zuikaku was fully aware of her status as an asset to the navy, and her sinking would make considerable dent in the defense of the home islands.

Zuikaku looked at Enterprise, and found that she was looking at her.

Zuikaku found her answer.

"Ma'am." she began. "I still remember my time with the northern force. I believe I could use some of my knowledge to good use in this mission.".

The northern force, of course, referring to the time when Zuikaku, already practically ran out of aircraft, played the role of a decoy in the planned three-pronged attack in the battle of Leyte Gulf.

"Bah. two eyes are overrated anyway." quipped Tenryuu.

"Hmm, very well. Kaga." The admiral continued.

"yes, ma'am?"

"You will be under Zuikaku's command for this mission. Is that fine with you?"

For a moment, Zuikaku was sure that Kaga would refuse. But then, Kaga nodded.

"Of course, ma'am." Kaga answered confidently. If she was irritated by this assignment, she hid it well.

The admiral pulled up a pen and wrote Kaga's and Zuikaku's names near the 'D' circle.

"Tenryuu."

"Infiltration?"

"Infiltration. You are to make contact with the remnant of the American fleet and lead them back to the base. I trust you to do it quickly and safely."

"Roger that." The cruiser answered in an obviously confident tone.

"Nagato?"

"Ma'am?"

"You'll be in charge of covering their retreat. Make sure that they have a clear rendezvous, and do not let any enemy goes through you."

"Understood."

"Nimu?"

"Y...yes!"

"You're in charge of our submarine operation. Harass the enemy defense and secure a clear passage from the area of operation to our base. "

"Yes, Ma'am!"

As the admiral assigned the commanders of her fleets, she scribed their names on the map according to their position.

"I'm giving you all free reign for this mission. Use all available resources and any off-duty ships as you see fit, within reason, to fulfill these criteria;"

The admiral started facing her commanders, one by one.

First, the decoy.

"Zuikaku. You will pick your own escort. Seek cruisers and destroyers that could keep up with you and provide decent AA cover. Remember that you are a decoy. Build a fleet worthy of a main attack force."

Then, the infiltrator.

"Tenryuu, your fleet will consist of destroyers and light cruisers. Try to pick ships with good fire rate and torpedo loadout. Make sure that you can outrun anything you can't outgun and outgun anything you can't outrun."

Third, the rear guard.

"Nagato, get some battleships, cruisers, and destroyers that you think know how to take some good hits, and make sure that you have scouting planes in the air at all times."

And last one, the saboteur.

"Nimu, Take a look at our combat record. Seek submarines that have good initiative and capable of independent action."

The admiral took one sip of coffee from her cup before finally finishing her command.

"Coordinate with each other to make sure your ships don't overlap. Get your list of names on my desk by 0900. Dismiss."

And with that, the four ships in front of her gave her a uniform salute.

"MA'AM!"


	12. Preparation

**Some updates;**

 **-People seem to suspect that the new carrier would either be Enterprise, Lexington, or Saratoga. Whichever of them got implemented, I think I already found a way to integrate them into this story with minimal rewriting. In any case, we're going to have more American ships soon.**

 **-Talking about rewriting, I write this story using WW2 naval facts I took almost purely from memory. Sometimes I make mistakes, like totally forgetting that Zuikaku had an armored deck. So often I would do minor rewrites, a simple fact corrections here and there, and sometimes I would add something I completely forgot to add but shouldn't, like describing what Enterprise was actually wearing last chapter, or maybe just changing the contexts or contents of some conversations. Thus, maybe you'd like to re-read the story again from the beginning once in a while, just saying.**

 **-Apparently in some way I write faster than Stephen King. Unfortunately for you most of my words would be dedicated to other things. Anyway, I'm starting to get busy again and update would probably slows down a little.**

 **Cheers.**

 **.**

 **..**

Zuikaku was anxious.

The few hours before mission launch would always be tense for any Kanmusu, or any military personnel for that matter.

Zuikaku already gave her list of names to the admiral, comprising of two heavy cruisers, both of the Takao class, Atago and Maya, and few destroyers. Some of them she picked for their anti air capabilities, such as the Japanese 'Queen of AA' Maya and Zuikaku's own old friend, Hatsuzuki. But Zuikaku had also fully expected that her ships would not be able to shoot down enough aircraft to survive the mission unscathed, so, she also picked up her ships based on their reputation of survivability. Among her destroyers, she had such ships as Shigure, Yuudachi, Yukikaze, and Ushio, each with their own history of facing off admirably against a much superior force, or surviving a losing war until the very end. Although these ships wouldn't be able to provide an exceptional anti-air defense, Zuikaku hoped that they will survive long enough for the infiltration team to accomplish their objectives and then, preferably, they all would come back to the base alive.

This expectation was what would drive most soldiers insane during the last moments of preparation before mission launch. When the mission end six hours from that moment, would they be alive or dead? The uncertainty would be maddening for an untrained person not used to make split-second, life or death decisions.

Zuikaku observed as she walked the busy corridor that the atmosphere in the base was getting tenser and heavier the nearer they're closing in on the zero hour. Support and auxiliary ships moving supply carts quickly and efficiently to where they were needed, ships involved in the operation were each making their personal preparations, and ships that were not were busy saying their goodbyes and prayers.

Zuikaku herself was on her way to do her own personal preparation, heading towards the firing range to test her damaged AA suite, hoping it wouldn't be too gimped.

That's when her path was blocked by Enterprise, coming out of the corner. She's still wearing the same article of clothing she wore since this morning, the one Yuubari gave her. A plain black shirt that's a bit too small for her, blue trainer pants, and surprisingly decent pair of white gym shoes.

Zuikaku noticed the few Kanmusu standing around them in the corridor suddenly went quiet and started staring at Enterprise, especially the transport ships. She immediately approached Enterprise and signal her to follow her, away from the staring eyes.

"Zuikaku-san?"

"You know, you really should stay in bed when injured."

At least for the good of the base, if not for your own.

"I'm fine. You're heading towards the firing range?" The American carrier girl asked, ignoring Zuikaku's concern. Her gait did look a lot better than it did the day before.

"Yes, I am. Do you have any business with me?"

"Well, actually…" Enterprise stopped, and reached into her pocket. "Yuubari and me were wondering if your five-inch guns could fire this."

It took Zuikaku a moment before she recognized what Enterprise was holding on her palm. It was a shell for a five-inch cannon, fairy-sized.

"Is that…"

"Variable Time Shell."

Variable Time Shells were basically one of the secret weapons utilized by the USN and the Royal Navy during the war. Zuikaku heard that the allies had banned the use of VT shells over land battle because dud shells could potentially be scavenged by the enemy and reverse engineered.

Thought it might sound like an exaggeration, Zuikaku and her planes could testify that the VT shells were much more effective and terrifying than anything made by German wonder science. As she understood it, VT shells used low-frequency radio wave to act like an aerial sonar, constantly estimating the shell's distance towards the target until it would explode at the optimum killing range. It was a genius design, as the system would require its internal components to compensate for things such as the Doppler effect and phase shifting while flying at supersonic speed. At the time, the standard procedure of ground to air warfare was to set up a Killzone at a certain range and fill it with as many explosions as possible using AA shells with a simple fixed timer. This, combined with the throw weight and rate of fire of most American AA guns, meant that the Japanese were hopelessly outclassed in term of air defense.

"Awesome." Zuikaku voiced her honest opinion.

"I know right?" said Enterprise. "I still have a good number of these in my magazine, and it would be a while before I could get back to the sea, so if you could use it, I thought…"

"Let's give it a shot." declared Zuikaku immediately, not even trying to hide her excitement.

Zuikaku continued walking towards the firing range, probably at slightly faster pace than before. Well, at least as fast as she could go without being inconsiderate to the slightly limping lady following her.

Zuikaku entered the firing range through a set of sliding door, followed by Enterprise.

The carrier firing range was just as Zuikaku remembered it after she'd visit it so many times before. The place, designed for carriers' use, looked exactly like a classic _kyuudo dojo,_ a wide, open-air field,with wooden non-walled 'house' in one side and a bunch of circular targets on the other. It's basically the same archery range you'd find in a lot of well-off high schools in Japan, the only difference would be the numerous steel poles scattered on the field in positions resembling standard naval formations.

What surprised Zuikaku, however, was the sight of Kaga, sitting in _seiza_ on the wooden floor with her full rigging equipped. However, her quiver and bow seemed dejected beside her as Kaga gave her utmost focus to her deck rigging, positioned on her lap with numerous Nakajima bombers lined neatly on top of it. One of her hand was raised, carrying what looked like an old pocket watch.

Zuikaku immediately stopped, with Enterprise right behind her. But the old carrier did not seem to notice that anyone had entered the range.

"Change." The old carrier whispered, and her fairies quickly reacted. Her elevators started moving, carrying fairies and torpedoes from her hangar and onto her flight deck.

Her engineers and enlisted fairies quickly worked on the planes already on her flight deck, releasing bolts and removing the armor piercing bombs already attached to the bombers and quickly removing them away from the premise on tiny wheeled racks. Then, with great efficiency, the newly arrived fairies from her lower deck quickly replaced the bombs with aerial torpedoes, just when the bombs were secured back into her magazine.

Kaga looked at her watch, and her serious expression turned grim.

"Too slow. Again."

Yet again, her flight deck and fairies burst into activity, replacing the bombers' payload the second time. This time, their torpedoes were replaced with bombs at noticeably faster rate. But the carrier still seemed disappointed.

"Still too slow. Agai-"

Kaga immediately stopped her words when she finally noticed the two other carriers in the room.

Kaga stared at Zuikaku, and then at Enterprise, and then she turned her attention back to her flight deck.

"We're done. Clean up."

Her fairies immediately reacted on her command, folding the bombers' wings and quickly ushered them back into the hangar. Awkward silence befell the firing range as Kaga quietly stowed her equipment away, preparing to leave.

"Uh...don't mind us, we'd only be here for a little while." said Zuikaku, trying to break the silence, even though she's not sure why.

"No, I was about to leave anyway." said Kaga in her usual cold tone.

When her flight deck was clear, Kaga took her bow and quiver and stood up. She made her way towards the exit swiftly, barely acknowledging the presence of the two other carriers as not to crash into them.

"Good day to you." said Kaga as she closed the door, more for formality than any heartfelt parting.

The two carriers stayed in silence just for a little while after Kaga had left the room, before Enterprise started talking.

"You think she did that because I'm here?" asked Enterprise, still looking at the point where Kaga disappeared behind the door.

"Hm?"

"The payload change training." she continued, now facing directly towards Zuikaku. "Back then, my planes caught her when she was changing her payload, so maybe..."

Ah, of course. The first and second carrier division were just preparing for a second wave attack towards Midway Island when the news of the American carriers presence arrived. The news came late because of problems with their scout planes, and the bombers were already equipped with armor-piercing bombs designed to destroy land-based facilities. When the American dive bombers found them, most of them were in the middle of equipping their bombers with torpedoes for their attack against the American ships.

The American attacked, and with so many explosives and aviation fuel littering their decks, the best of the _Kido Butai_ stood no chance. The rest were history.

"Don't think too much about it." calmed Zuikaku, patting Enterprise by the shoulder. "Let's just see how those magic shells of yours work with my guns, huh?"

Besides, if Kaga had decided to hate you on principle, there's really nothing you could do about it.

Zuikaku concentrated. For a Kanmusu, summoning your rigging remotely from a distance was generally discouraged since it'd burn more energy, and thus resources. But summoning one turret of two 40. caliber Type 89 127 mm cannons from their storage in the same base would not be a problem for a fleet carrier like Zuikaku.

"Here." Enterprise handed Zuikaku a single VT shell and the propellant. Like a lot of other navies back then, a lot of USN guns used semi-fixed ammunitions. It meant that the shell itself and the propellant were completely separated, and both have to be loaded at the same time into the breech.

"Now, would this even fit?" Even if two guns were of the same diameter, there are multiple factors to decide whether they could actually use the same type of ammunition. Honestly, Zuikaku kind of expected the shell to not fit, or at least not fit perfectly.

To her surprise, both the shell and the propellant slipped perfectly into one of her guns.

"Huh. I honestly didn't expect that to work." remarked Enterprise.

"Not yet."

Even if the shell did fit, it did not guarantee that Zuikaku could actually fire it without ruining her guns. With her turret loaded, Zuikaku pointed it at one of the target downrange, and fired.

 **BAM!**

Zuikaku watched closely as the shell exploded, not at her intended target, but as the shell went past near one of the metal poles in the field.

"Well, the VT fuse worked." said Enterprise.

but how about the gun itself?

Looking down at the barrel from the breech, Zuikaku inspected her gun, and felt her heart sank slightly.

"What is it?" Enterprise asked, with genuine concern in her voice.

"The wear in the barrel lining is rather excessive. " explained Zuikaku. "This gun would probably only be able to fire a few hundred rounds before requiring barrel change at best. At worst, the entire firing mechanism could give away."

"Oh." Enterprise sounded disappointed. "too bad, huh?"

Zuikaku was also disappointed. As an island country, Japan never had any access to good sources of metals. Thus, their metallurgy by the time of the war was considerably lacking compared to other countries. Lack of sources also meant they often had to make do with random scrap metals. The great Yamato was at least partially built from the pans and pots taken from the kitchen of a random farmer. Also, as Zuikaku had found that day, this lack of expertise on making steel apparently transferred to inadequate barrel strength of a fairy-sized anti-aircraft gun.

But still, having the ability to quickly boost her anti-air capability in a short burst couldn't hurt, even at the cost of minor damage to her guns.

"No, I could still use this." said Zuikaku to Enterprise. "Not as much as I'd like to, but I think having a couple hundred rounds of these in reserve would be useful."

Enterprise smiled, and her entire body seemed to perk up.

"How many rounds would you need?" Enterprise asked, leaning forward as she moved closer to Zuikaku, whom still inspecting her gun.

"Well, I have 16 of these guns...so maybe about five thousand rounds...no ,wait..."

Zuikaku mentally discussed the matter with her quartermaster fairy. How many rounds would each gun need? Which gun would potentially fire more often? How much room would be spared in her magazine versus her normal, timer-based shells? All factors were considered in a process of complicated maths that almost made Zuikaku lost all awareness of her surroundings.

...and that's when Zuikaku felt something soft pressed against her back.

"Five thousand rounds, coming right up!" exclaimed Enterprise.

Her voice was close. Too close, as if she was right behind Zuikaku. It was only when Zuikaku looked down and saw a pair of lithe arms encircling her waist that she realized that Enterprise had hugged her.

"Wha..."

Suddenly, Zuikaku felt painfully aware about what those soft, round things pressing against her back were, and how their warmth started spreading through her clothes and across her skin.

Zuikaku tried to get away, but she felt Enterprise's hug tightening, and then she realized why. Inside her, Zuikaku's fairies were alerted as suddenly a group of foreign fairies tried to enter her system. Enterprise's fairies.

"Come on." whispered Enterprise directly into Zuikaku's ear. "Just let them in. They won't hurt you."

With her mind utterly confused, Zuikaku found herself at the mercy of Enterprise's command. Almost absent-mindedly, she ordered her fairies to open the path for the American fairies.

Zuikaku probably should take a close watch as Enterprise's fairies unloaded exactly five thousand rounds of VT shells inside her. She should be making sure that they were handling them properly to regulation, and mobilize her own fairies to help to carry the ammunition to the right places inside her magazine. But she didn't. Instead, her mind was solely focused on the ample chest pressing on her back, sending the vibration of someone else's heartbeats down through her spine to mix with her own, increasingly rapid heartbeats. The aroma of Douglas Fir, that Zuikaku knew was natural to most American carriers, overwhelmed her sense of smell, completely replacing the wet stench of the old woods that made up the firing range.. Every time Zuikaku tried to focus, the feeling of warm breath on the nape of her neck quickly scattered her mind like an overheated tea cup.

But even so, Enterprise's fairies seemed to know exactly what they were doing. Never once any of them got lost or misplaced a box inside the maze-like structure of a foreign fleet carrier, even without guidance from Zuikaku's own fairies whom were then, just like Zuikaku, completely frozen in place.

"I studied your blueprint the first time when I was summoned, you know." Enterprise said softly, as if she was reading Zuikaku's mind. "You were really hard to kill back then."

Zuikaku didn't know how long she was in trance silently watching Enterprise's long fingers intertwining on her stomach, but she felt that it was too soon when Enterprise's fairies were done loading her up with new ammunition and returned to their carrier, whom immediately withdrew her hands from Zuikaku's waist.

"and...done!" declared Enterprise cheerfully. Zuikaku turned awkwardly to face the American carrier, finding her standing straight with slightly puffed chest, arms behind her back, and an expectant look on her face. "Is everything alright?"

Zuikaku took a moment to collect her scattered thought from the floor before answering.

"Yes, everything...everything is fine., yes." said Zuikaku, somewhat stuttered.

"Hm, so it's good then." Enterprise smiled endearingly. "But you know, I guess what they say about the living condition in Japanese ships are true. It was really hot inside you."

Zuikaku felt her face flushing red, if it wasn't already.

"I...excuse me?"

"Your climate control. My fairies were only in there for a few minutes and already they're sweating bullets. I think you have a problem with your piping, it's like the heat of your boiler is actually leaking to the living spaces. Even your face is red."

So it was.

"Er...sure. I'll look into that." Zuikaku agreed, completely thoughtlessly.

"Hmm...ah?!"

Enterprise looked like she was about to say something, before she was interrupted by her own grumbling stomach.

"Ah,right, so...if we're done here..." Enterprise started talking again, and Zuikaku noticed a slight blush on her cheek. "...which way to the cafeteria?"

"Uh...down the corridor, turn left at the end. Big doors, wouldn't miss it." Zuikaku answered almost automatically.

"I guess I'll see you later then?" said Enterprise as she made her way towards the door, walking backwards.

"Yes, of course, and...uh, thanks for the shells."

"Don't mention it." said Enterprise. She was about to reach the door when she turned. "By the way, Crane?"

"Yes?"

"I kind of like you."

What?

"So don't die out there, okay?"

Immediately after saying that, Enterprise disappeared behind the door, leaving Zuikaku alone in the firing range.

Zuikaku stood still in that empty room for what felt like an eternity.

"Damn." Zuikaku finally swore at the empty room. "She's not good for my heart."


	13. Execution, part 1

One interesting aspect of naval warfare after the emergence of Kanmusu and Abyssal ships was how massively the role of conventional navies was being reduced to. Zuikaku remembered her almost childish excitement when she was first summoned as she's made aware of all the advances on military technology developed when she herself was rusting at the bottom of the sea off the coast of Cape Engano. Ballistic missiles, smart bombs, satellite-guided weaponry, GPS, nuclear propulsions, drone combat, VTOLs, jet planes that could actually fly without killing its pilot, heck, even the idea of diagonal flight decks absolutely fascinated her. Even after she learned about article 9 that effectively made Japan self-forbade themselves from half of these wonderful things to absolutely delete your enemies, she was still looking forward to operating together with the new 'girls' of the post-war era. Especially the Aegis destroyers and other ships of the JMSDF that bore the names of her old comrades.

Alas, she also remembered the great disappointment she felt when she learned about what generally would happen when a conventional navy faced off against an Abyssal fleet. Namely, a great loss of life and materials with little to show for it. Nobody knew exactly why modern systems tended to fail miserably when in the proximity of any Abyssal craft, but from what Zuikaku had heard it appeared to be an extremely curious anomaly that reduced the effectiveness of any modern weapon, especially those that were depending on electronic infrastructures. For example, any technology that used satellite imaging would find themselves blinded, modern radar would suddenly degrade in performance, multi-barrelled CIWS would find its rate of fire decreased until it matched the rate of fire of an old Bofors auto-cannon. Zuikaku had even heard about a Mark48 Torpedo that suddenly run a circle and sunk the very nuclear submarine that launched it.

Ideally, a captured live specimen could explain this phenomenon and could potentially bring conventional navy back into relevance, but there was yet no method developed nor tried that could break through the seemingly impenetrable self-destruct system of the Abyssal ships.

Zuikaku had long grudgingly accepted that she would not operate under the safety provided by hails of Sidewinders, Harpoons, nor Tomahawks, but still, there were times when Zuikaku wished that she could use lasers to break incoming projectiles in mid-air, or using a sophisticated targeting system that probably had better IQ score than a decent chunk of the Earth's population to send a supersonic rocket-powered death and smote her enemies from beyond visual range with a thermobaric explosion.

...and this rescue mission was one of those times.

"Holy shit!" Zuikaku swore. Zuikaku rarely used swear words, but even the most polite man in the world could probably be convinced that nearly being decapitated by an armor-piercing bomb actually deserved better quotation than a sanctified excrement.

Fortunately, one advantage included in having a human body was that her spine could actually bend. Zuikaku ducked just when the bomb was about to smack her right on the nose. It was so close that she could feel the wind blowing past her ear as the bomb went just a mere inches from her head, ripping off a section of the right part of her twin-tail hair.

For a second or so, Zuikaku was too pumped with adrenaline to speak, and so were her shipmates, even Kaga.

Finally, a certain destroyer spoke out.

"That was close, poi." said Yuudachi. Her concern was immediately followed by Zuikaku's other picket destroyer.

"I'm...I'm sorry!" Hatsuzuki, sailing to Zuikaku's aft, shouted. "I didn't change my barrels fast enough! I'm..."

"It's alright." Zuikaku interjected, trying to calm the guilt-ridden destroyer.

If there was one weakness of the main battery of the Akizuki class, it was that they fire at such high velocity that their barrels would need to be changed constantly, potentially making a hole in the fleet's air defense cover, like what just happened.

"Your timing was just unlucky. More importantly, are you sure your hand's alright?" said Zuikaku, pointing at Hatsuzuki's left hand that was scorched in the previous mission. Zuikaku had been noticing that hand performing slower than usual, even if the skin already healed and it looked fine, at least superficially.

"What? Ah, it's fine."

"Good. Change your barrels, and go back to your position."

"Yes, ma'am!"

The AA destroyer scrambled to change the barrels of her turrets, and as she did so, Zuikaku scanned the sky for enemy planes.

It took absolutely no effort for Zuikaku to find a considerably large group of bombers with fighters escort closing in on their position. This was actually a good news. It meant they're doing well at being a bait, and by this point, the infiltration team, led by Tenryuu, should be already behind enemy lines conducting their search operation.

"Hmm. I wonder what kind of girls the American Kanmusu would be like. What do you think, poi?" the yellow-haired destroyer running AA screen at Zuikaku's port side asked the dark haired destroyer sailing beside her.

"Eh? I wouldn't know..." said Ushio.

"Wonder if they're going shoot us on sight, poi."

"Eeh?!"

"If they're going to fire at us, I'm ready to return the favor tenfold." said another destroyer sailing to Kaga's starboard. Zuikaku wondered if bringing Shigure along was a bad idea. She knew that she met a rather grisly end under the cannons of American battleships in order to give her comrades enough time to escape. A vain death, considering the end result.

"They wouldn't do that." said another destroyer sailing at Shigure's side.

"How would you know?" asked Shigure with a somewhat raised voice.

"I just know." declared the destroyer Yukikaze, full of confidence.

"I wonder if they're all going to be like Iowa-chan? That would be wonderful." quipped Atago, the heavy cruiser that managed to bond with the American battleship surprisingly quickly after they realized that they both possessed similar...burdens, In which meant that they both talked about bra sizes a lot.

"I hope not, sis." responded Atago's sister, Maya. "The self-esteems of half the girls in our base are already low enough as they are." Maya ended her sentence with a mischievous glance at Zuikaku, in a way that implicated something that Zuikaku would rather not to think about, ever.

"I am very comfortable with my chest, thank you very much." said Zuikaku. "Now, we really need to concentrate, please. Even if this is just a decoy mission."

Zuikaku turned her attention back at the enemy attackers, which are now well within striking distance.

"Alright, Kaga-san..."

Before Zuikaku could finish her order, Kaga's airplanes already swooped in from above the clouds and started firing. They strafed the bombers once, knocking most of them out of the sky in a fiery inferno, before immediately pulling out and started dogfighting with the Abyssal fighters escort.

"Uhh...great job." Zuikaku congratulated, which Kaga didn't give any response to. Instead, she silently prepared her bow to launch another squadron of fighters.

Zuikaku decided to drop the issue, and her eye was back to scanning the sky near the horizon. She immediately found another group of planes, this time her own. A group of Nakajima and Aichi bombers with minimalist escort readying to land on her deck.

Even when the working relationship could be better between herself and Kaga, Zuikaku was surprised at how well the two of them could work together. Zuikaku was actually worried that Kaga would have some objections about the combat plan that Zuikaku had devised, but beyond her expectation, Kaga had actually agreed without any question.

Basically, the two carriers would share responsibility regarding drawing the enemy forces away from the infiltration route. Zuikaku would load her planes with loadout suitable for executing ground attacks to make her fleet looked like a credible threat to the Abyssal land-based installation, while Kaga would be responsible for Combat Air Patrol, protecting the fleet from any actual harm. In execution, Zuikaku planes would make a token attack at the Abyssal base at few low-risk locations. Zuikaku couldn't afford to lose many planes, this is, after all, only a decoy operation, and not an actual assault. However, Zuikaku had made sure that her little number of planes would be viewed as a preparation for a massive landing operation, by bombings defenses at perceived potential landing sites and beach-heads, and just for added assurance, she had told her destroyers to visibly equip small flotillas of Daihatsu Landing Crafts she had borrowed from the airplane transport Akitsu Maru back at the base.

Zuikaku had just managed to recover the last of her aircraft when she heard the confident voice of the heavy cruiser Maya.

"Ooh. I see targets. Lots of it."

Indeed, there were another group of planes skimming the sea at quite the distance away from Zuikaku's fleet position. This one's trajectory was a bit odd, however.

"They're not coming for us." said Yukikaze, looking through her binocular.

That's odd...

"There." said Kaga suddenly, Her voice was still as monotone as ever as she pointed at the direction the enemy planes were heading.

Zuikaku moved her eye to the direction Kaga had indicated where, far away, she could see a big clump of black smoke hugging the sea surface. More interestingly, though, this clump of smoke appeared to be armed. Even from her position Zuikaku could see tracers pouring out of the smoke, directed at the advancing enemy planes.

Zuikaku looked closely, examining how the shells exploding relative to the distance of the enemy planes.

"VT shells." said Maya.

Before Zuikaku could assess the situation, she saw that Kaga's airplanes had already made their way towards the battle.

"Kaga-san?" asked Zuikaku.

"What?" Kaga turned, facing Zuikaku with an unreadable expression.

"Uhh...nothing." Zuikaku conceded, before she released her own fighters to join up with Kaga's air wing. "Let's go."

With Kaga at the forward-most of the formation, Zuikaku led her fleet closer and closer towards the clump of black smoke taht was fighting the Abyssal planes. Up above them, the attacking enemy planes really didn't have any chance, especially after Zuikaku's own destroyers and cruisers started getting involved.

"Ha! Ain't going so well for you, is it?!" taunted Maya as the last enemy plane went down in flame.

...except that it wasn't the last.

In the brief moment when all the ships in Zuikaku's fleet lowered their defense after they thought they were safe, one plane, previously hidden in the clouds, made a mad dive towards them.

"What the...? watch out!" Zuikaku warned. But it was too late. The plane, a fully loaded bomber, was heading straight towards Yukikaze. The rest of Zuikaku's fleet were not even given the time to aim their AA guns.

Zuikaku watched as if time itself had slowed down. She saw Yukikaze closing her eyes, ready to accept the inevitable.

...and then, a shadow rushed out from the clump of black smoke. Zuikaku could barely make out the form of a destroyer before it had suddenly positioned herself between Yukikaze and the plane that was about to hit her.

A great blast suddenly manifested right in the middle of Zuikaku's fleet, a blast bright and loud enough to blind and deafen Zuikaku for nearly a full five seconds. When her one eye was starting to function normally again, she could see Yukikaze kneeling on the surface of the sea, looking shocked, but unharmed. More importantly, however, was the sight of an American destroyer looming over her, with her hands spread out protectively like a mother hen.

From the back, Zuikaku could see that the destroyer had black hair, and was wearing tanned hide vest and pants with aesthetic that Zuikaku found stereotypical to Native American fashion. She wore a headband decorated with two feathers, though Zuikaku couldn't tell what kind of bird donated them. The back of her clothes that wasn't covered by her rigging was torn and singed, revealing surprisingly intact reddish brown skin.

"Good afternoon, Yukikaze." the destroyer spoke, surprisingly calmly for someone that was just recently got blasted by a suicide bomber. Her voice was soft, nearly inaudible and was clearly only directed at one person, Yukikaze, who was too shocked to reply.

"I...wha..?"

"Yukikaze-chan!" Shigure, the closest destroyer to Yukikaze besides the American, rushed towards her, but her steps were stopped when the American destroyer straightened herself and then looked directly at Shigure.

"Hm." the American destroyer's head moved up and down, clearly examining Shigure, a fact that the respective destroyer clearly didn't appreciate too much.

"What an anticlimax." the American destroyer mumbled. Barely audible, but it was enough.

"Why you..!"

Zuikaku could see Shigure trembling, with her cannons starting to aim downwards, towards the American's face.

"If I may suggest a deep breath, for all of us?"

As if responding to the authoritative voice, Zuikaku's entire fleet turned their attention back towards the clump of smoke which already had started dissipating, revealing two other American destroyers.

One of them was a rather muscular girl for a destroyer, wearing a short sleeved white shirt that revealed her arms and a skirted brown overall. The one article of clothing most notable on her, however, was the great coat covering her from the bottom of her chin to the balls of her feet, adorned with motive of grey and blue dazzle camouflage. The girl herself had white skin and blond hair in short rebel haircut. She had subtle, somewhat dim green eyes, and a mouth that seemed to be constantly smiling. Her overall body language was confident. She's relaxed, but you'd know that she could jump into a fighting stance in a fraction of a second. Her rigging was standard for most American destroyers, five dual purpose guns, and high-caliber auto-cannons and machine guns. Zuikaku also noticed a steel knuckle adorning the destroyer's right hand fingers, thought she was not sure if it was a part of her rigging or just something she bought herself to punch Abyssals in the face. Somehow Zuikaku was convinced that it was the latter.

The other girl, the one who spoke, was eye-catching to say the least. She's almost entirely covered in bandages, and unlike some of her fellow Kanmusu that wore bandages as a fashion statement, this destroyer seemed to be actually only held together by said bandages, with her own body looked like it could be falling apart at any moment. Deep ridges and old wounds were visible on her pale white skin even through her bandages and thick clothing, which consisted of a dark military jacket and a blue skirt. It wasn't until Zuikaku noticed the wide white belt encircling her waist that she realized that her clothes was based on the U.S.M.C. dress uniform, a fact supported by her white peaked cap covering her ear length dark hair.

When looking at her, Zuikaku found her attention constantly being drawn towards the destroyer's eyes. With her face almost entirely covered in bandages, creating a mummy-like appearance, it made her icy gray eyes even more striking than they would be otherwise. Said eyes felt...old, experienced, weary, and they tugged on Zuikaku's natural predisposition to act politely towards the elderly.

Zuikaku didn't realize when she looked at the destroyer's eyes, the destroyer was also looking at hers.

"You're Zuikaku." the destroyer declared after examining the Japanese carrier.

Zuikaku was taken aback. "you knew of me?"

"Of course. Enterprise wouldn't stop talking about you." the destroyer smiled a tired smile, almost as if she was struggling to curl the edge of her lips.

"She did?"

"Yes." she nodded." Though it was mostly about how she would kill you."

"Oh." Zuikaku felt her shoulders slumping.

The destroyer responded to Zuikaku disappointed note with a small chuckle. "You should feel honored. Not many ships could say that the Grey Ghost herself considers them a worthy rival."

Zuikaku could have sworn that she heard Kaga grumbling in response of the destroyer's words, thought it could be just her ears playing tricks.

"In any case, an introduction is in order." continued the bandaged destroyer. She took a few steps forward, getting herself closer to Zuikaku.

"Allen M. Summer class, USS Laffey, currently in charge of this merry band of lost souls." The destroyers extended her arms to either side, as if she's about to hug the world.

"We're not lost, cousin." said the destroyer in the great coat. "We found enemies. We're exactly where we need to be."

"That's also Laffey, we're sharing our name." said the first Laffey. "She's...a very excited girl."

"I won't deny that." responded the second Laffey before giving a playful salute to Zuikaku. "Benson class destroyer, USS Laffey. Nice to met'cha!"

Zuikaku knew that during the war, the American navy had a habit of naming their new ships with the names of their previous ships that were already sunk. Other than for spiritual reason, it also had other uses, including confusing the heck out of the Japanese intelligence.

Zuikaku then turned her glance towards the destroyer in the Native American clothing, still facing off against Shigure.

"You've already met Johnston."

"Hmph." Johnston nodded, simply to acknowledge that she had been introduced.

The first Laffey looked at Zuikaku in silence, until Zuikaku realized what the bandaged destroyer was expecting her to do.

"Ah, right. I'm Zuikaku." Zuikaku pointed at herself, then at her ships, one by one. "That's Kaga, Atago, Maya, Ushio, Yuudachi, and..." Zuikaku pointed at the last two destroyers. "...Shigure and Yukikaze."

"Interesting." exclaimed the first Laffey. "It seems like you are planning to do a landing operation, but the amount of ships is too...wait."

Laffey put a finger on her chin.

"This is a decoy operation, isn't it?" said Laffey, making a finger snap in front of her face.

"Yes, it is." Zuikaku confirmed. "Our infiltration team should be on the way already."

Laffey smiled. A genuine one this time.

"We were sent to ask for help from the Japanese base, but you're already ahead of us. Well done." complimented Laffey . Somehow her compliment made Zuikaku felt like she's a child being praised by her grandparents for doing something menial.

"So...getting to the point..." Zuikaku prompted. "...where are the rest of you?"

"Hmm." The bandaged Laffey crossed her arms in front of her chest and raised her chin, gazing at Zuikaku's fleet as if she was judging them for their worth.

Finally, the destroyer made a turn, and started sailing.

"Follow me."


	14. Execution, part 2

"Good job!"

Hatsuzuki's face was beaming when Zuikaku praised her thirtieth plane kill for the day. However, her celebration got cut short as Johnston kept on announcing her kills.

"Thirty-fifth, thirty-sixth.." muttered the Fletcher. "Fortieth. The sky is clear."

"Great job for you too, Johnston!"

"Hmph." muttered Johnston in the tiniest sense of acknowledgment, completely unaware that Hatsuzuki was glaring dagger at her.

After Zuikaku's fleet rendezvoused with the American destroyer flotilla, Zuikaku took upon herself to break radio silence. Communicating with the rest of the Japanese fleets except for the submarines, she arranged for the two Laffeys to merge up with the infiltration fleet at one of the previously arranged meeting points. From there they would then lead Tenryuu's fleet to the position of the rest of the remnant of Enterprise's escort. Zuikaku also sent with them the destroyer Shigure and Yukikaze in exchange for the destroyer Johnston. Zuikaku had judged the Fletcher to be worth two Japanese destroyers in term of AA, and Johnston seemed to be determined to prove her correct.

As Zuikaku's fleet continued baiting the enemy defense, Johnston kept on proving the superiority of American AA, inviting the awe of the rest of Zuikaku's escort. Well, either that or mild feeling of inadequacy.

Suddenly, one of Zuikaku's planes spotted a rather large enemy surface fleet in course towards her own fleet, supported by few bombers and fighters as an overhead cover.

'Good, They took the bait.' thought Zuikaku.

"Turn sixty degrees starboard!" Zuikaku ordered.

"How far do you think we should draw them?" asked the cruiser Maya, herself at her twentieth aerial kill.

"Not far enough that they think we're retreating completely, not yet at least. Just follow me."

Zuikaku took a gander at the enemy surface fleet that was chasing them. A couple of high-speed cruisers. They could potentially catch up with her fleet.

"Kaga- _san,_ please prepare for anti-surface warfare."

In preparation for the operation, Kaga had filled her hangar mostly with fighters according to Zuikaku's plan, but she nonetheless launched the few torpedo and dive bombers she had on reserve. Without any protest, surprisingly.

Zuikaku also launched her bombers, and under the escort of Kaga's fighters, the combined air wing quickly made their way on top of the enemy cruisers. But even when they dived in with the sun behind them, the enemy cruisers AA guns and fighter escort still managed to shoot down some of the attacking planes.

...but curiously, the only casualties seemed to be Kaga's fighters.

"Kaga- _san_ , you..."

"The mission comes first. This means nothing, FifthCarDiv."

Some distance away at Zuikaku's port side, two destroyers started speaking, with such volume that Zuikaku could hear them, but not Kaga that was sailing further away.

"Oh... _tsundere, poi."_ uttered Yuudachi.

"Yuudachi- _chan, w_ hat's a _tsundere?"_ asked Ushio.

"You'll know when you're older, _poi."_

Zuikaku was trying her hardest to ignore their conversation. There was other, better thing to focus on.

With Kaga's fighters drawing the enemy AA and fighters away from the bombers, the bombers could take their time for aiming their drops. In minutes the enemy cruisers were flooding and burning, and then quickly retreated, leaving their aerial cover to fight hopelessly against Kaga's fighters.

"Kaga- _san,_ call back your planes. Let them follow us."

"A bold decision. This is on you."

Zuikaku nodded, accepting full responsibility. She then turned to the rest of her fleet.

"60 degrees port. Equal Speed, maintain formation." ordered Zuikaku, which was immediately followed.

With that order, Zuikaku was trying to maintain her fleet's distance to the enemy. The enemy needed to believe that her fleet still possessed a real threat to their base. With such objective in mind, Zuikaku led her planes back to her in a straight line, leading the enemy airplanes directly into her fleet.

"Alright, folks! We're making our stand here!"

Her announcement was met with various reaction. Kaga was cold as usual, Maya looked excited, Atago seemed to have that smile permanently frozen on her face, Johnston was deadpan, Hatsuzuki was anxious, and poi...Yuudachi and Ushio actually shared the same expression of uncertainty, like they both didn't know what to expect in the next few minutes.

Nevertheless, they all responded with the same, unison acknowledgment, even Kaga, which Zuikaku would admit was a bit disconcerting.

"Yes, ma'am!"

Immediately after, as if fate itself was playing a joke, one of Zuikaku's dive bombers which she had designated as forwards scouts spotted a large group of enemy planes, larger than any they had faced before on that mission, consisting of seemingly hundreds of bombers and fighter escorts. Heck, Zuikaku even saw some ground attack planes, designed to destroy hard ground targets like bunkers and pillboxes. The enemy was throwing everything they got at them, and Zuikaku suddenly felt a burst of sympathy to the Germans that were at Normandy beaches.

This large force of enemy planes quickly joined up with the overhead cover of the defeated cruisers, and then turned and flew in a course that directly intercepted the path of Zuikaku's fleet.

"Here they come!" warned Zuikaku to the rest of the fleet.

"My, that's a lot of them, isn't it?" mulled Atago as the giant swarm of enemy squadrons entered visual range. Her voice was surprisingly calm. Her sister Maya, however, was a lot more excited.

"Alright! Come at me, you fatherless scum!" shouted Maya at the top of her lungs, brandishing her numerous AA guns.

"How unprofessional." muttered Kaga, which was responded by Maya sticking out her tongue at her in an uncharacteristic, battle adrenaline induced show of disrespect. The old carrier didn't seem fazed by this, however.

"Wh...what should I do, Yuudachi - _chan?"_ asked Ushio, seemingly at the edge of panic.

"Just..calm down and stay close to me, _poi."_ said Yuudachi, trying to sound confident.

"Zuikaku- _san!_ Please stick close to me!" shouted Hatsuzuki. 'I am not losing you again'.

Hatsuzuki whispered that last part, but Zuikaku's sharp ears still caught it nonetheless. Zuikaku made a mental note to give the destroyer a special attention after the mission, if everything went well, of course.

"I will deny them victory." declared Johnston. The American destroyer looked confident, like she was sure that she would not die, or maybe she just didn't care.

Hearing the determination of her fellow ships and facing a seemingly uneven odd, Zuikaku felt a strange warmth in her chest. It was a familiar feeling, however, the same feeling she had so many years ago at the coast of Philippine.

Zuikaku readied her bow, loaded with fighters and aimed at the great wave of enemy planes.

"Very well, O Abyss..." Zuikaku muttered under her breath. **"...try and take me."**

 **.**

 **..**

 **...**

 **A/N:** Sorry for the short update, but I really can't afford the time at this point. Next update would be up at mid-December, at best, so wish me luck, aye?

Moving on to the good news; Saratoga is out, and she's a beaut! They gave her what looks like a fully automatic Bazooka as her launching mechanism. I can't wait to implement her in this story.

Cheers!


	15. The First Casualty

_**A/N: I**_ _ **'m back! Blimey that took longer than I thought it would be!**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **...**_

 _ **"CHAAAANGIING MUNITIOOONS!"**_

Zuikaku screamed at the top of her lungs as her fairies loaded her five-inch guns with proximity fuse shells she had received from Enterprise. She had to. The noise of the battlefield simply drowned any words of inferior decibels. The tune of the literal hundreds of guns firing continuously at the same time in a relatively contained battlefield would deafen and confuse any untrained mind, and although Zuikaku and her fellows were made of sterner stuff, Zuikaku noticed that order was starting to break among her fleet-mates.

There was chaos. The sight of the sky was worthy of a festival, with exploding planes, tracers, and colorful flak trademark of Japanese dyed anti-aircraft shells filling the sky, confusing their own fighter escorts. Zuikaku's ships were forced to constantly turn due to an endless line of torpedo bombers, adding to the haphazard nature of the fighting. The destroyers, constantly overwhelmed by dive bombers, were gradually driven further and further away from the capital ships, making it harder and harder for them to provide AA cover for the carriers. Worse yet, they were starting to take damage. USS Johnston was hit especially hard after she had insisted to sail at the forefront of the formation, turning herself into the primary bait for the enemy suicide fighters constantly trying to smash their explosive-laden bodies at the nearest Kanmusu before they could be shot down.

"Johnston-san! Slow down! Move to the back of the fleet!" Zuikaku ordered.

The heavily damaged USN DD didn't even bother to give the flagship a proper objection.

"Bah!" Johnston barked, and continued firing at yet another group of advancing enemy fighters that managed to evade Zuikaku's and Kaga's planes.

Most of the enemy planes went down in flames in seconds, or just simply disintegrated midair if they were hit by one of the five-inch guns. But all the enemy squadron needed to succeed in their goal was for one plane to get lucky.

Somehow, one enemy jet fighter managed to get past the barrage of combined firepower from all of Johnston's 127mm, 40mm, and 20mm guns and smashed righteously into her side. Zuikaku could only hear a short yelp from the tiny warship before her new wound suddenly burst out into flames, engulfing Johnston's entire upper body in inferno and sending hot blaze down the poor girl's throat.

Zuikaku froze in horror as her skin suddenly felt the warmth of the burning destroyer from a considerable distance away. She watched helplessly as the girl wriggled and squirmed, desperately trying to put herself out to no avail. That fighter must have been filled with some sort of slow-burning material, like napalm.

"Zuikaku! Stop daydreaming!"

Kaga's harsh remark woke Zuikaku up from her stupor just in time to realize that a large group of enemy dive bombers were right on top of her.

"Oh, not now, dammit!"

Zuikaku immediately pointed as many of her AA guns as she could at the enemy, including her newly improved five-inch dual purpose cannons, and took down most of the enemy planes just as they began their dive. But Three planes managed to evade her flak and reached dropping altitude. Zuikaku took an evasive maneuver, and all three bombs missed, straddling Zuikaku with building-sized water splashes.

Zuikaku shot down another two planes. She was about to congratulate her AA fairies when she realized that the last enemy bomber had no intention of pulling up.

 _Oh, shit, here we go again._

Zuikaku closed her one functional eye, and wondered if she's going to be completely blinded in the next three seconds.

...and that's when she heard the scream.

It was loud, so loud that Zuikaku thought it came from right beside her, but it couldn't be since it kept getting louder and louder as it continued to come closer and closer. It was not a scream of distress, the one screaming was not in pain or fear. Instead, it was a scream of rage.

A _burning_ rage, in fact. When Zuikaku turned her sight to look at the source of the scream, she was at first not sure of what she was looking at, since it basically looked like a cursed hell-beast had breached the nine circles and was charging at her at full 35 knots. It was not until the thing was almost right next to her that she finally realized what exactly she was looking at.

It was USS Johnston. _Still considerably on fire,_ charging with incredible speed towards Zuikaku. Her mouth was open, sprouting out incandescent steel shrapnel as she screamed a battle cry that could hold back the angel of death and Poseidon himself at the same time.

 _"_ Wh..."

Zuikaku was not given the time to collect her shattered thoughts before Johnston _jumped,_ rigging and all, out of the water at maximum speed straight towards Zuikaku...

...and right on the path of the suicide bomber.

A bright flash of light flared out at the side of Zuikaku's face, temporarily blinding her. Zuikaku could feel the heat and shock wave washing upon her body, but was wondering why there was no sound, until she realized that her ears had been ringing. The explosion was so intense and near that her brain couldn't process the noise signal before her ears got completely shell-shocked.

But other than that, Zuikaku felt no pain, and as soon as her hearing and sight came back to her, she could see that she was relatively unharmed, and she knew why.

"Oh, no..." Maya muttered, and Zuikaku would like to agree.

Looking at the rear of the formation, Zuikaku could see USS Johnston laying still on the calm sea, getting further and further away as the fleet sailed on at 25 knots average. Well, it _could_ be USS Johnston, although from where Zuikaku was floating it could also be any random unrecognizable burnt wreck. It was completely black, with barely any recognizable feature of the original shape of the USS Johnston. From this distance, Zuikaku could only make out the form of a bent five-inch gun barrel, and maybe a sight of a little maimed hand.

"Is...is she dead?" asked Ushio.

"I...I don't know, poi."

"Doesn't matter! we can't come back to check!" shouted Kaga. "INCOMING!"

The whole fleet switched their attention from Johnston's possible corpse to the direction Kaga gestured at, and realized that the recently cleared sky had been refilled with hostile air force.

"Oh, come on! Let us breathe already!" whined Maya.

"My, it seems that our decoy has worked well beyond expectation." uttered Atago, her calmness bordered on ridiculous.

Zuikaku readied her AA fairies and, preparing for the worst, her damage control fairies. Making sure all of her internal compartments were well sealed, Zuikaku steeled herself to take some massive hit.

...only to find out that it was almost completely pointless, since all of the enemy planes just sailed right through her fleet, ignored hers and Kaga's fighters, and continued onward, towards the wreck of the USS Johnston.

That's when Zuikaku realized that Johnston was still moving. No, she was not only moving, she was _in the process of standing up._ The tiny ruined vessel still had some fights in her.

The girl was a mess. Her entire body was black with soot. Only half of her rigging was still actually attached to her, and she seemed to have great difficulty carrying them. She was slouched, her damaged keel barely able to support her weight. Her limbs were bent at various unnatural angles, and Zuikaku could see, even from the distance, big patches of pink, freshly cooked meat covering the girl's exposed thighs. Some of her clothes seemed to have melted into her wounds. Zuikaku also had a clear look at her face, since a lot of her hair had been burnt off. Her eyes were closed. Or maybe they were just squinted, as she was clearly looking up, towards the approaching enemy planes.

Zuikaku shook in abject terror as she realized what the enemy was trying to do.

 _They're going to finish her._

Zuikaku spun her mind gears. She needed to think quickly and calmly if she was to have any hope of saving the wounded destroyer.

However, Zuikaku did not manage to come up with anything before yet another surprise decided to hit her.

Ushio, one of the timidest vessel in Zuikaku's entire base, suddenly made a hard turn to port, changed her course a full 180 degrees, blasted her boilers and charged towards Johnston at full speed.

It came so hard out of the left field that Zuikaku's brain just hung up, and so did the entire fleet's. They stood in silence, watching the tiny destroyer's back getting smaller and smaller.

Maya's brain was the first to restart.

"Holy shit she just went in." said Maya, with a mixture of mild bemusement and worries.

Maya's words set off a chain reaction. All of a sudden Zuikaku's entire fleet went from catatonic stupor to confused battle frenzy, with each ship desperately trying to conform to Ushio's reckless action.

"W...wait for me, poi!"

Yuudachi began turning.

"H...Hey! Stay in formation, you fool!" said Kaga, exasperated.

"Oh, for f... _ **HARD LEFT RUDDER!**_ **"** screamed Zuikaku above all the confusion.

"Tch, What a mess!" commented Kaga as she started her own turn.

"Hatsuzuki! You go first!"

"But...but your AA cover, ma'am..."

"GO!"

"Yes, Ma'am!"

Akizuki class were not the fastest of destroyers, but at least their turning radius were not the size of the Imperial Palace. As the capital ships made their half of a turn, Hatsuzuki was already at full speed in course towards the distressed American destroyer.

Zuikaku pulled and readied a single arrow from her quiver, representing 4 Zero fighters. She pulled on her bow string, but the string was hard, so hard that she could only draw it by an inch. Zuikaku realized that she had forgotten something rather crucial for carrier operation; head wind.

Thus far, they had been sailing into the wind, reducing the takeoff speed necessary for the planes to successfully leave the deck of the carriers and not simply flopped into the sea and sequentially got crushed by the bows of their own ships.

But now they were sailing _in course_ with the wind, making it harder for her planes to actually take off.

"Amateur! Put your back into it!"

Zuikaku heard Kaga's scolding, and saw that she had managed to launch a considerable group of Reppu in the time it took Zuikaku to struggle with her own rigging.

Irritated, Zuikaku drew a deep breath, flooding her furnace with oxygen. She pushed her boilers to maximum temperature and sped herself up to an excess of 30 knots, practically outrunning the wind. Then, she pulled on her bow smoothly, and released.

A quartet of Zero fighters took off and climbed, hopelessly trying to catch up with the Reppu to no avail. Nevertheless, They managed to group up with Zuikaku's other planes that were already in the air, and together they charged towards the group of enemy planes that were already on top of the USS Johnston.

Zuikaku assessed the situation. Ushio was almost at AA range to cover Johnston, but she would not make it before the first bomber started their dive.

 _ **BLAM!**_

The forwardmost plane in the enemy formation suddenly fell apart in a blaze, and a continuous stream of tracer bullets started pouring out from the sea.

Unbelievably to anyone present, USS Johnston was still fighting.

"I can't believe this." said Maya.

"Well, they were designed to protect battleships." observed Zuikaku.

"Still, she won't last any longer."

Zuikaku concurred. Looking closely, the stream of anti-aircraft fire from Johnston was actually coming from a single 20mm Oerlikon. Probably her only gun that's still working. The single fairy manning the gun tried her best, but she only managed to shoot down one dive bomber out of the two dozens or so enemy planes, including, as Zuikaku saw them, a few land-based heavy bombers. They really wanted this unescorted destroyer to die.

The dive bombers started their dive, the torpedo bombers started leveling their flight, going low above the waters, and their fighters started engaging the newly arriving Zero and Reppu. No efforts were spared by the enemy in their effort to sink at least one ship of the attacking fleet. Zuikaku could tell that they were desperate, or at least highly frustrated.

...and then the enemy entered Ushio's anti-aircraft range.

The Fubuki class did not have the best AA suite, but they're still better than a single Oerlikon. Ushio quickly put down two torpedo bombers as they went past on top of her, ignoring Ushio in their mad dash to sink the Johnston.

Seeing their comrades went down, the dive bombers suddenly switched their target mid-dive. Changing their approach angle, they charged straight towards Ushio's face in shallow dive while maintaining terminal velocity. Ushio's anti-aircraft guns started opening on them, but their speed, combined with Ushio's own speed, meant that her AA fairies would have a very limited window of opportunity to actually hit anything.

"POOOOOIIII!"

Since when did that word become a battle cry?

Gun blazing, Yuudachi moved in at a perpendicular angle to Ushio, crisscrossing her flak with Ushio's own. The group of enemy bombers was not given the time to react before the air around them suddenly got saturated with steel and fire. They all went down in seconds.

"Tha...that was dangerous, poi..."

Ushio ignored her. Either she didn't hear her or she was simply too focused. Either way, she continued sailing towards Johnston who was still firing her single Oerlikon at the remaining torpedo bombers.

But instead of being offended, Yuudachi started grinning widely while she began chasing after the Fubuki class destroyer.

"...but I will always have your back, poi!"

Johnston shot down one torpedo bombers, and Yuudachi and Ushio started firing on the last two planes. They went down practically without any problem.

Johnston was understandably looking slightly disoriented when Ushio and Yuudachi finally reached her. She even temporarily pointed her 20 mm gun towards Ushio, before pulling it down when she recognized her.

"Oh...hey there..." she muttered, sounding drunk. Given the fact that a great percentage of her blood just got vaporized her brain oxygen level was probably not very great.

"Come on! We have to go!" screamed Ushio.

"Hm? Wha...?No, I can still fight..."

 _ **SLAP!**_

Ushio slapped Johnston across the face. Guess with the situation as it was, there's not much room for discussion.

"This is not Samar, damn you!"

Johnston did not respond. In fact, she did not seem to be sure about what exactly just happened, only that her face suddenly stung an awful lot.

"Yuu-chan, help me please."

"On it, poi!"

Both Japanese destroyers put their shoulders under the arms of the confused, probably delirious American destroyer and started to motor. The Fletcher-class destroyer was a bit taller than the others, so her legs were being dragged across the sea like a plow.

"Above you!" Hatsuzuki shouted, yelling yet another warning on that day for an imminent air attack.

Ushio and Yuudachi looked up, and the panic in their eyes spoke for themselves as they saw what were about to hit them. A rainfall of high explosives from the land based bombers filled the sky as far as their eyes could see, and the moment they saw them, they knew no amount of evasive maneuver would get them out of it, especially not with three destroyers all tangled up like that.

"Fuck." said Yuudachi flatly.

A cluster of water pillars suddenly saturated an area the size of two football fields, probably displacing enough water to reduce the level of the Pacific Ocean by 0.1 percent of a millimeter. The three destroyers suddenly disappeared from sight. Hatsuzuki changed her course to avoid the mini-tsunami created by the blast, sprouting barely audible profanities.

"Ushio?! report! Ushio!" Zuikaku shouted into her radio.

Silence fell on top of Zuikaku's fleet, until the sea finally calmed down, revealing that all destroyers were completely unharmed.

Well, statistically, trying to carpet bomb the sea to take out a moving naval asset like a warship would only result in wasted explosives. You'd generally need dive bombers and torpedo bombers for doing the job with any amount of efficiency. But still, Zuikaku felt her heart skipped for a while.

"We...were fine, somehow." reported Ushio.

"Ehhehe...that was awesome." whispered Johnston weakly.

Zuikaku heart-rate had finally slowed down, but then Hatsuzuki shouted again.

"They're not done with us yet!"

The enemy land-based bombers, now with their bomb bays empty, were flying in formation back to their base.

...except for one.

One of the enemy heavy bombers broke off from the formation, and put itself to a collision course with the retreating destroyers.

"They're doing that _again?"_ said Maya, sounding exasperated.

"Karma's a bitch, huh? _**Forty-five degree right rudder! Half speed!"**_ ordered Zuikaku. Kaga and the cruisers followed with trained maneuver, putting themselves perpendicular to the destroyer's course and exposed most of their AA guns towards the single enemy plane and giving the destroyers a steady safe line to retreat behind.

"Speed up, you brats!" shouted Maya as she opened fire.

The four-engined bomber was determined, however. The destroyers carrying Johnston were unable to fire any of their guns, and it would take more than the limited firepower of the capital ships at the extreme range of their AA guns to bring the heavy plane down to the sea, especially if most of their shots missed.

"Oh, You know what!? _**BRING IT!**_ _"_

Hatsuzuki and her four turret golems, each carrying a pair of 10cm dual purpose cannons, moved in and deliberately put themselves between the approaching bomber and the three scared destroyers.

"Focus on its left wing!" Hatsuzuki commanded her golems, firing all eight of their guns at a single concentrated point in their target. She probably had expended about 50 shells before the bomber's left wing was liberated from its main body.

But apparently, Murphy had a date with Newton last night because the bomber still maintained enough momentum to steer itself overhead past Hatsuzuki and made its way towards the retreating destroyers.

"Hit the deck!" shouted Kaga.

The destroyers took no time to heed Kaga's order. Yuudachi and Ushio immediately slammed their bodies against the water surface, bringing Johnston with them, which clearly did not appreciate the hard impact on her heavily wounded body.

"Ow." Johnston whimpered.

The destroyers kept their heads down as the flaming wreck of the heavy bomber flew just a meter above them with a terrifying whistle, before smashing the sea at a speed that would make the waters felt like a hardened concrete slab. The plane fell apart, and unceremoniously began to sink to the bottom of the sea, back to the abyss.

Then the sea was quiet.

The sky was clear, with only a hint of the contrails left by the retreating bombers in the horizon. Zuikaku could see nothing but her own ships in the proximity, and the only sound she could hear was the sound of the waves. Everybody was still too high strung to say anything.

But then Ushio began laughing.

It was a genuine laugh filled with joy, the joy of actually being alive, the joy of surviving yet another fight, the joy of throwing the dice against death and actually _winning._

Then Yuudachi followed to laugh. Her laugh was not in anyway lesser than Ushio's, although slightly subdued.

Their laughs were contagious. Soon, Hatsuzuki also began to laugh, tough she also put a hand on her forehead as a sign of mild frustration, frustration of the prospect of working with this mad bunch of ships again in the future.

Suddenly, Johnston raised her head.

"Oi, shut up, why don't you? I'm sleepy..."

Johnston's non-sequitur acted as if someone had just opened a lid. Soon, Zuikaku's entire fleet were laughing out loud, except for Kaga, which was to be expected, and Atago, which instead of laughing out loud was merely chuckling softly in a way a lady would.

A grumbling noise suddenly could be heard from the direction of the heavy cruiser Maya. She blushed slightly as the attention of the entire fleet was suddenly directed at her.

With her face red, Maya approached the flagship Zuikaku.

"I'm sorry ma'am. But I'm already at my limit." said Maya, holding her grumbling stomach. "May I suggest a retreat?"

"Hmm."

Zuikaku closed her eye, switching her perspective to one of the bombers with empty bomb bays she had designated as long range scouts. What she saw was discouraging.

A group of heavy enemy surface fleet, consisting of fast battleships and battlecruisers was advancing towards their position.

"We won't be able to do much even if we stay. Let's hope the other team is doing well."

Zuikaku began rearranging her radio tower.

"This is Zuikaku." announced Zuikaku, breaking radio silence. The enemy would know where she was, but it had long been a non-factor. If Tenryuu deemed it appropriate, she would also break radio silence, if not, the radio wave would stay silent, like what happened when Zuikaku sent four destroyers to join with Tenryuu's fleet at one of the various rendezvous points designated during the planning stage. Zuikaku hoped that the destroyers reached Tenryuu's fleet without any trouble, thought she would have no way to confirm that.

Not until now, at least.

"Calling the second fleet. Please confirm mission status. Over."

Zuikaku barely had to wait before a rasped, exhausted voice answered her from the other end.

" _This is Tenryuu, package secured, one casualty."_

 _._

 _.._

 _..._

 _A/N; Sorry for the lack of Enterprise in the last few chapters. Next chapter would be the end of this 'arc' and we will introduce the rest of the USN ships that would be recurring characters in this story. Also, we will have E back in combat condition soon enough._

 _I might need to do fact-checks and lots of editing to plenty of the previous chapters, preferably with a chainsaw._


	16. The Journey Home

The sun had started to lower as Zuikaku's fleet neared the rendezvous point.

"How is it, Atago-san?" Asked Zuikaku.

The heavy cruiser Atago smiled. She was sweating bullets out of her foreheads, struggling to maintain her speed.

"My boilers are heating up a bit more, but I don't think I need to slow down further."

"Good."

They're slow enough as they were. With Atago carrying the wounded Johnston in her arms, they're limited to sail at 12 knots. That's a relatively slow cruising speed for a pre-dreadnought battleship, more so for a fast carrier task force in a combat situation.

"I'm sorry." whimpered Johnston, sounding genuinely guilty. "Laffey would've just laughed this off."

"No way, poi!" said Yuudachi, sailing slightly behind the fleet as a rear guard. "Any other ship would've been sunk! You're awesome! And you're hearing this from me, which means a lot, poi!"

"She was at Bikini Atoll," said Johnston. "She survived."

Judging by the faces they make, this claim obviously surprised the other destroyers in Zuikaku's fleet.

"Eeeh?! No way, poi!" shouted the unbelieving Yuudachi.

"Huh." Mummed Atago. "Does that mean she's stronger than Nagato-san?"

"Which Laffey was this? I need an early warning just in case." said Maya jokingly.

"Umm…the Summer one, the one with all the bandages." Answered Johnston, chuckling slightly. "I remember she said that she thought she could retire after that, but the Navy said 'nope' and sent her to Korea instead. Man, she was rather pissed."

Maya nodded. "I'd imagine. Nuked and then worked to the keel. Our people were also rather pissed back then."

The entire fleet, even Kaga, suddenly looked at Maya with various levels of disgust. Except maybe Zuikaku, whose expression was more akin to 'Seriously? You just said that?"

"Sorry…" said Maya remorsefully.

For a Japanese woman, Maya was somewhat lacking in subtlety.

Maya was saved from the awkward situation by a radio call from Tenryuu's fleet.

"Tenryuu here. We're nearly at the rendezvous. Zuikaku-san, what's your position?"

"We'll be slightly delayed. 2 of our ships are non-combat effective. Feel free to meet up with Nagato-san without us." Zuikaku answered, no longer caring about radio interception. With all of the fleets in full retreat, deception was no longer necessary, though Zuikaku still had a few scouting bombers on the lookout for the enemy spotter planes, just to give them a few extra minutes. She remembered how Warspite had told her about how the Royal Navy had used the Radio Direction Finders in their surface ships and their spotter planes in tandem to triangulate the exact positions of U-boats at range. If the Abyssal were using a similar tactic, an early warning would be useful to chart the most efficient course that minimalized the need of fighting.

"Roger that, we'll wait for you behind the battleships li-." Tenryuu responded, but suddenly paused. "…Hang on, I've got a contact."

"Do you need an air cover?" Zuikaku offered.

"An enemy light cruiser. Scout, probably…wait, scratch that. It's just broke in two. One of our submarines got her, I think."

Zuikaku immediately asked for tactical confirmation. "Was your location compromised? Are you being chased right now?"

"I don't think so. We've only encountered a few scouts for now. Whatever you did on your end seems to be working on drawing the enemy's attention."

Maya grinned. "'Working' would be an understatement. I think we shot down half of their Pacific fleet." she boasted.

Zuikaku however, had her doubt.

"Yes, we shot down a lot of planes, but oddly we didn't encounter many surface ships. They could still be at large, be careful, Tenryuu-san."

"Roger that. Nagato-san, we're coming your way."

"Affirmative, preparing cannons for a sustained cover barrage." responded Nagato, who had been listening to the encrypted radio channel. "Tenryuu-san, I'll need the details on the number and types of the American ships to avoid friendly-fire."

"Comparing with the roster Enterprise-san gave us, it seems that all of her escorting ships have survived." Tenryuu immediately answered.

"How?" asked Nagato, surprised. "They've been behind enemy lines for so long."

"It appears that they've been using the single submarine they have as a wide area scout, avoiding most of the enemy patrols." Reported Tenryuu, surprisingly calm given which particular submarine was listed on Enterprise's roster. "Other than said submarine, we also have three anti-aircraft cruisers of the Atlanta class, seven destroyers including the two Zuikaku-san sent me, with most of them being the Fletcher class, and we've also got one submarine tender, one fleet oiler, and two cargo ships."

A considerably large fleet, but not too heavy. It's obvious that they weren't expecting a fight.

"Copy that. Tenryuu-san, what's your ETA?" said Nagato.

"About twenty minutes. By the way, could anyone send words to Akashi? One of the American destroyers took one AP bomb from an enemy flying boat patrol."

"I'll do it. How's her condition?" said Nagato, as worrisome as ever when it came to destroyers of any nationality.

"She's stable but unconscious. The bomb over-penetrated, but it must've hit something important on the way down."

"Well, just as long as nobody sinks and we all get to go home, I'll consider this mission a success." said Zuikaku, and of course, she jinxed it. Almost immediately after her saying that, Tenryuu loudly swore on the radio, in full audience of the destroyers.

"Aw, shit."

"Oh, what is it now?" asked Maya, sounding tired.

"Er…nothing, sorry. Kiso just thought that her spotter plane caught some black things moving behind an island. But I thin-wait. What's tha-Oh, oh fuck!"

The sound of a massive water splash sending seawater through Tenryuu's microphone was the only sound that could be heard before static filled the airwave. Immediately it was responded by Zuikaku's own panicked call.

"Tenryuu-san?! What happened?! Respond!" Zuikaku shouted, as if it would help the radio signal reaching through.

Nothing happened.

Looking around her, Zuikaku could see her fleet looking at her expectantly, waiting for her to give her order. This made her stress level increased exponentially, which really didn't help in this situation.

"Tenryuu-san! Respond! Please!" Zuikaku tried again, almost begging.

A single high-pitched noise pierced through Zuikaku's ears as the signal unscrambled itself, and the sound of screaming and gunfire could suddenly be heard from the other side.

"Smoke up! Smoke up! What th-" said Tenryuu's voice before being cut off. "-aim the torpedoes! Prepare to repel rammers!" said the voice again, somewhat less panicked this time. "They've fired! Brace for Impact!"

"Tenryuu-san! Calm down and report! I repeat! Calm down and report!" screamed Zuikaku into the radio.

To her relief, Tenryuu actually responded somewhat coherently this time around.

"Wha-? Oh, for goodness sake, torpedo boats! Destroyers! Capital ships! Dozens of them!" Tenryuu screamed back. "How the heck did they hide a goddam strike fleet behind such a tiny island?!"

Well, most of the Abyssal ships could actually function as submarines in a pinch.

"Tenryuu-san, can we get their exact number?" asked Nagato in her usual calm professionalism, though Zuikaku could still catch a hint of urgency in her voice.

"Negative!" answered Tenryuu. "Their formation is too thick! The horizon is black I can't see shi-"

BOOM!

Tenryuu's bad word was cut off by an explosion.

When her voice could be heard again, Tenryuu actually sounded more pissed rather than scared.

"-OME ON YOU USELESS DECK SCUMS! TAKE ME ON IF YOU THINK YOU'RE HARD ENOUGH!"

Tenryuu shouted so hard Zuikaku was sure that her radio speakers were about to break.

"Flagship, permission to move my battle line forward." Asked Nagato.

Zuikaku was still thinking of a response before Tenryuu interjected.

"No! If you move now we'll just pass each other and get lost! Stay where I can find you, Nagato-san!"

"But…"

"Just keep your course. We're coming to you, so just trust me, alright? I'll get these girls home."

The radio went silent as both Zuikaku and Nagato struggled to decide whether or not to send the battleships forward in support of the retreating light fleet.

"Hey, have I ever disappointed before?" said Tenryuu with pride in her voice amongst the noise of screaming and explosions.

Indeed, even if she was a World War 1 vintage design, as a Kanmusu Tenryuu had proven herself as one of the best in the entirety of Japan when it came to escort duty. Even if she hadn't, she was certainly one of the most active light cruisers, having been sailing around the entirety of the Pacific Rim as she led the escorts of the countless cargo fleets sailing towards the starving Japan.

Tenryuu had escorted giant bulbous ships carrying highly volatile liquefied natural gas from Borneo to safety inside the Port of Tokyo. She had sailed the infested waters of India to bring rice and foodstuff to the people of Hokkaido. She made sure that refugee ships sailing from the overstrained Kyushu survived their perilous journey to Mainland China, Vladivostok, and Australia. She had rescued American hospital ships from a massive enemy ambush off the coast of Philippines.

So far, Tenryuu had never lost a single ship, neither from the ships under her command or those of her charges.

"Nagato-san, maintain current course." ordered Zuikaku.

"Acknowledged." Confirmed Nagato, after a slight, doubtful delay.

"Thanks, flagship. I'll be seeing you." Said Tenryuu gratefully.

"You better. If you die it's on me."

"I'll live." Said Tenryuu, barely audible due to the timing of an explosion that sounded a little bit too close for comfort.

"Well, that's a death flag." Quipped Maya. Zuikaku tried to ignore her.

Zuikaku prepared an arrow, which was followed almost instinctively by Kaga. "Tenryuu, I'm sending you our bombers for area denial. The least we can do is to give you some space."

"Appreciated. Sending my coordinate."

"Kaga-san, How many Ryuusei can you spare?"

Ryuusei was the name of the new type of bombers Zuikaku's base had just received. The admiral had immediately assigned the small number of them to Kaga and her experienced pilots.

"Seven." Answered Kaga matter-of-factly.

"Send them all, if you please. We'll need to deliver as much payload as possible."

"Hm." Kaga changed her arrow, and fired, followed immediately by Zuikaku's fighters.

"Keep the bombers below the fighters and in scarce formation. Watch where the enemy are aiming their flak." Commanded Zuikaku as she and Kaga continued to launch their planes.

"Please, I am not an amateur, Fifth Carrier Division." Said Kaga, sounding offended.

"Of course." Said Zuikaku flatly, by then barely acknowledging the fact that Kaga often used the name she's so proud of as some sort of insult.

"Tenryuu, stay safe. we'll meet you with the battleships."

"Roger that. I'm out." Said Tenryuu, before cutting off communication.

Zuikaku turned to her fleet, which were still looking at her expectantly. She then gave her order.

"Change of plan. We will not rendezvous with the infiltration fleet. Instead, we're going to immediately join up with Nagato-san's fleet, and then we're going to hold on until the infiltration fleet and the American ships are safe."

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!" shouted Zuikaku's fleet, each ship with her own level of enthusiasm, with Kaga being the least and Hatsuzuki being the most.

"Follow me."

The journey Zuikaku's fleet traveled before they met up with the battleship fleet was very quiet, with only the sound of the waves could be heard. Each ship had already experienced a mild fatigue from their previous engagement, and each ship had decided to use this small gap between combats to prepare themselves mentally, evaluating their previous mistakes and planning all the little things they could do to not repeat the same mistakes again on the next battle.

By the time the massive pillars of smoke from the battleship fleet were visible, Zuikaku's fleet were combat ready, certainly in mental fortitudes if not in munitions.

"Good afternoon, flagship. Great day for battle, isn't it?" greeted Warspite, sitting regally with her rigging still in 'throne mode' and calmly sipping tea on the middle of the Pacific.

"Honestly I don't like this static defense plan. It's too restrictive." Commented Bismarck of the old Kriegsmarine who, as a commerce raider, always had a preference for more mobile operations.

"Oh, is the Hun desires to run away?" mocked Warspite using the old British slang for Germans that basically called them the barbarian horde from the east. As a veteran of the pre-carrier age, operating in a static battle line came very naturally to Warspite.

"Hey! Watch your mouth, Inselaffen!" shouted Bismarck's loyal escort, the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen.

"Oh, how sweet. The prince has come to defend her helpless princess."

"A..I didn't..You…" Eugen stuttered, face quickly turning from 'Aryan Pale' to 'Brazilian Tomato' in seconds.

"Miserly hag." Bismarck shot.

"Cheeky brat." Warspite shot back.

As the two generations of fast battleship continued to throw insults at each other, Nagato sailed quietly, cupping her face in her hand.

"Quite a fleet, Nagato-san." Said Zuikaku, sailing to Nagato's starboard side.

"Honestly I have half a mind to just lock those two inside a room until they developed some semblance of team spirit."

"Honestly they're just as likely to turn into a promiscuous lesbian couple instead." Said Maya. " 'sup, Nagato."

"Maya-san." Nagato waved discreetly.

Other than the two battleships and Prinz Eugen, Nagato's fleet also consisted of a lot of other heavy hitters. Nagato's sister Mutsu was sailing rear guard, with both Fuso sisters sailing side by side in front of her. The heavy cruiser Myoko, Furutaka, Kako, Mogami, Aoba, and Kinugasa sailed in two lines on either side of the formation. A picket of destroyers had already been set up on the outer line of the formation, comprising of the destroyer Fubuki, Max, Lebe, Libeccio, Tokitsukaze, Hamakaze, Akigumo, and Kiyoshimo.

Overall, a very heavy fleet ready to throw the equivalent weight of a decently sized housing complex plus residents in explosive steel down range at whatever enemy stupid enough to even came close.

"Where are they now?" asked Nagato.

"Give me a moment." Zuikaku closed her eyes, switching her perspective to one of her bombers circling on top of Tenryuu's fleet. "Their evasive maneuvers have forced them to take the long route."

Suddenly, their radios flared up.

"Infiltration fleet closing in. Rear guard fleet please confirm." Said Tenryuu.

"I'm here Tenryuu. You're heading in the right direction, but you're still below the horizon." Said Zuikaku.

"We're close enough to see you smokes. Can't you do anything? We're a bit overwhelmed here." said Tenryuu, obviously trying to sound calm.

"Acknowledged, Tenryuu-san." Said Nagato, before turning to Zuikaku. "Flagship, may I take command from here?"

"Request granted." Said Zuikaku. "I am relinquishing control of the fleet over to the battleship Nagato!" she announced to the rest of the fleet.

"What direction they're coming from?" asked Nagato.

"Our port side, 70 degrees west." Answered Zuikaku.

Nagato nodded and turned her head towards her fleet.

"Fleet! Prepare for Beyond Visual Range combat! Launch your spotter planes!"

Immediately after that command, a chorus of steel cables and gas propellant could be heard mixing with the sound of the sea as all the ships in the fleet with catapults launched their aircraft together.

"Launching spotter!" announced Warspite as she stood up, her throne slowly transformed into a proper rigging.

"Yes, unleash the mighty Walrus." Said Bismarck, mocking the model of Warspite's spotter plane. Fortunately for everyone's sanity, the old battleship ignored her.

"Form ranks! All battleships in front, half the cruisers in the second rank and half behind the carriers! Destroyer stay where you are! Scarce formation! I want every gun pointed at the enemy and not each other!"

Zuikaku watched in fascination as all the ships in the fleet maneuvered flawlessly into their respective positions around her and Kaga. Atago, still carrying the wounded Johnston, instinctively moved to the rearmost of the formation.

Another interesting factor of Kanmusu warfare was how much infantry tactics could be adapted into naval combat. The formation being presented here was basically based on an American civil war line formation. Considering that naval rifles such as those mounted on battleships actually had similar hit ratio to old smoothbore muskets when used in long range naval engagements, using the same formation to maximize throw mass in a single volley seemed logical. Zuikaku's own admiral was one of the first to adapt the tactic after it was invented by an American admiral.

Of course, this meant that the world then had the anthropomorphic incarnations of twentieth century naval vessels in the middle of the twenty-first century using a land battle tactic from the eighteenth century to fight deep sea horrors, which Zuikaku would admit was kind of jarring.

"Target acquired! Battleships, fire!"

Zuikaku closed her ears, and she noticed Atago hugging Johnston deep into her ample chest, protecting the wounded destroyer's eardrums with a massive amount of fat. While Zuikaku would agree that the poor girl didn't need any further injury, whether or not this particular method was actually going to bring the girl closer to death's door via smothering or fatal case of embarrassment remained to be seen.

An explosion that shook the ocean could be heard as numerous 14, 15, and 16 inch guns were fired in perfect unison, somehow creating an echo that lasted for ten seconds in the middle of a flat sea. The shells they've fired sailed right past the horizon to ruin the day of whatever was on the other side of their trajectories.

"Salvos landed long!" said Tenryuu on the radio.

"Battleships, Reload! Cruisers, Lower your guns by five degrees!" commanded Nagato. "Supressive fire!"

The cruisers started firing, but unlike the battleships, they weren't firing all of their guns at once. Instead, they each emptied a single turret with each command to fire, allowing them to do multiple volleys and forced the enemy to make evasive maneuvers while the battleships reload.

"Bismarck, all guns loaded!" shouted Bismarck.

"Warspite, all guns loaded." Followed Warspite a second later.

After each battleship sounded a similar report, Nagato ordered to fire.

BOOOM

Another deafening noise, and this time, the shells were traveling a bit lower.

The result of the volley was responded enthusiastically by Tenryuu.

"Great shooting! You sunk a battleship, two cruisers, and disabled a destroyer!" reported Tenryuu, then she immediately gave another good news. "We're closing in! You should be able to see us in a moment."

The first ship Zuikaku saw went over the horizon wasn't actually Tenryuu, but a red-headed American cruiser wearing a drab gray colonial dress. She's looking neither scared nor angry, but excited as she continuously fired her rear turrets at whatever targets were chasing her.

Definitely one of those battle hungry types, though Zuikaku.

The American ship was closely followed by the leader of the infiltration fleet. Tenryuu sailed somewhat slowly, carrying what at that distance looked like a bloodied clump of cloth. Her torpedo tubes were empty.

Tenryuu was surrounded on either side by two American destroyers. One was a grinning blonde girl wearing a tricorne, a messy puffy shirt, dark breeches, and boots. She's visibly carrying two cutlasses, one in each hand. The other one was a black haired girl wearing similar clothing, minus the tricorne and plus a black long duster that almost reached her ankle. Probably the two were of the same class.

The most notable fact, however, was that all three ships were wearing an elaborately designed eyepatch on one of their eyes, and as the light cruiser Kiso became visible, Zuikaku touched her own eyepatch, wondering when the thing became in vogue.

Following them were four large lightly armed ships wearing coveralls of various colors. Two were in Navy Blue, one in Forest Green, and one in Pitch Black. Judging by their negligible weaponry and how the two torpedo masters Ooi and Kitakami were sailing in a close guard to them, Zuikaku assumed these to be the non-combatant support ships.

At the end of the formation were the other two American cruisers listed on Enterprise's roster, followed by a massive number of destroyers, including Tenryuu's protégé, the four Akatsuki class, and also the four destroyers Zuikaku had sent, Shigure, Yukikaze, and the two Laffeys.

Other than those were two other destroyers that Zuikaku didn't recognize. They also wore white puffy shirts, though one of them, the tanned girl with short red hair, was wearing it much neater than the other one, tucking it nicely inside her breeches. The most notable thing about the other girl was her massive circular glasses.

"Destroyers front!" Nagato ordered as the last of Tenryuu's battered fleet passed the horizon. Responding in trained precision, Nagato's destroyers maneuvered from their picket post, turning their formation from a perfect circle around the fleet into a vanguard line, separating the fleet from the enemy. "Prepare torpedoes!"

As the first American ship finally reached Nagato line, enemy fleet became visible.

"Oh, damn." Zuikaku could hear Nagato softly mumbled, followed by similar sentiments all across the fleet.

Indeed, Tenryuu wasn't exaggerating. The horizon had actually turned black.

"About time you guys joining in on the fun!" said the newly arrived American cruiser. Judging by the numerous 5-inch mounts, she's one of the Atlanta class.

"Americans! Move to the back of the formation! Destroyers, smoke up!"

The American cruiser quickly moved into position inside of Nagato's formation under the cover of smoke screen, followed by Tenryuu and the two destroyers.

"Well, that was close." Said Tenryuu as she joined up with the formation.

"Shiver me timbers! Those brigands almost had me guts all over them garters, they did!" said the destroyer with the tricorne and a black leather eye patch in a very strange accent.

"I do not understand why you are so scared, sister. My power alone can take on those evil forces and end them in seconds. We should not run like this." Said the destroyer wearing the black duster and a flower motif eyepatch.

"Don't mind her! She's a chuuni!" shouted Tenryuu from the back of the formation.

"Swordswoman, what is this chuuni you speak of?" asked the destroyer as she sailed into formation behind Tenryuu.

Kiso sailed in right after the two destroyers.

"HA! Still alive! I won!" announced the Kuma-class cruiser to the world which that day had tried its hardest to kill her.

The four support ships then followed, led by one of the ships that wore blue coveralls. She had a very non-descript face that made it difficult for Zuikaku to even describe her, almost as if someone had cast her from a mass production mold. The second blue clothed ship was a bit bigger than the first, but otherwise, she had the exact same face, white skin, and straight black hair.

"~The supply is saaaafe~!" chirped the first girl as she entered safety behind Nagato's battle line.

"Damn, what a mess." Said the curly haired girl in black coverall.

"At least we're safe now." Said the dirty blond girl in green coverall.

"Not yet, buddy!, they're firing back!" shouted Kitakami, who had just come out of the smoke screen laid by the destroyers.

Zuikaku ducked as the sea around her ripped into countless white pillars, obscuring her vision and almost made her collide with the heavy cruiser Maya.

"Anyone hit?!" shouted Nagato.

"Warspite!" screamed Bismarck, with a genuine concern in her voice.

"I'm fine, Kraut. No need to make a big deal out of it."

"Big deal?! You got hit in the face!" shouted the German battleship.

"'tis but a flesh wound."

"I can see your skull!"

"Permission to return fire." Said Warspite, completely ignoring the younger battleship.

"Right. All ships! Maintain sustained barrage!" ordered Nagato.

"Mein Gott! Spinnst du oder was?!" Bismarck protested for being ignored, but she fired anyway.

Under the cover of supersonic AP shells, each with a diameter bigger than an average dinner plate, the remaining ships passed one by one through the smoke screen and immediately joined up with Nagato's battle formation.

"Ma'am! All of my port tubes are empty! Permission to sail backward to aim my starboard torpedoes, ma'am!" shouted Ooi, somewhat jokingly.

"Denied! Move to the back!" ordered Nagato, which Ooi immediately complied, but not before kissing Kitakami on the cheek which sent the torpedo cruiser into a momentary mild stupor.

"Oi! Time and place!" shouted Nagato, which woke Kitakami up from her love-struck state.

"Tenryuu-san! Is Sullivan alright?" shouted a curly blond Atlanta immediately after she went through the smoke screen.

"She's alive!" shouted Tenryuu, and suddenly Zuikaku realized that the bloody clump of cloth in Tenryuu's arms was actually the body of a destroyer.

Another Atlanta crossed the smoke screen. This one had a peanut colored hair cut just a few centimeters above her scalp, giving her a tomboyish appearance.

"Ha! Into the belly of the beast and out of the Devil's ass!" she said.

What a poet.

"We meet again, friend!" shouted the Summer Laffey to Zuikaku as she led Shigure, Yukikaze, and the other Laffey into formation.

The four Akatsuki sisters came next.

"They're getting closer, nano desu!" said the destroyer Inazuma, leading her three sisters.

"Fleet! Forty-five degrees starboard! Maintain distance with the enemy and keep on firing!" Ordered Nagato.

Nagato's battleships and cruisers definitely had the advantage in gunnery skill compared to the enemy fleet, and Nagato certainly would want to keep that advantage as long as possible.

Nagato's fleet opened another volley of highly concentrated salvos just as the last two American ships passed through the smoke screen.

"O'Bannon! I'm so sorry!" whimpered one destroyer with a massive circular glasses and pink hair tied in pigtails.

"It's okay, Porter. You didn't actually hit." Said the tan-skinned, red-headed destroyer with an inexplicably pristine uniform. "I know that torpedoes are really hard to aim in such heated battle condition. What mattered was that you actually warned me in time."

"I'm sooory…"

The bespectacled destroyer was still on the verge of crying out loud as she joined Nagato's formation. She was followed closely by the red-headed destroyer, desperately trying to calm her down.

With all the torpedo-equipped ships now safe inside the formation, Nagato's fleet now actually had the advantage in firepower against the enemy fleet, and could probably engage in a straight up fleet battle and end up the winner.

But that wasn't their objective, and Nagato knew it.

"Americans, who is your leader?" Nagato asked.

"I am, ma'am!" shouted the tanned red-headed destroyer, sailing away from her sobbing friend and to Nagato's side.

"O'Bannon, isn't it? It's rare to have a destroyer as a fleet leader." Said Nagato.

"It is, ma'am. But my mates deemed me the most competent after Enterprise…went missing." O'Bannon said with a hint of sadness.

Nagato turned to Zuikaku, and then to Tenryuu with a disapproving look.

"Neither of you has told them?" she said with a light berating tone.

"Ah, it didn't come up…" said Tenryuu, scratching her head sheepishly.

"We…we were a bit busy." Said Zuikaku, sounding equally guilty.

"Oh for…"

"What? What is it?" asked O'Bannon impatiently.

"Enterprise-san has survived and is waiting for you in our base. In fact, this operation was requested by her specifically." explained Nagato.

O'Bannon face brightened like a flash. It was clear that this was the best news she had heard for a while.

"You heard that girls?!" she shouted.

"Ha! I knew that rogue could make it!" said the destroyer with the tricorne, raising her swords above her head and almost slashing Fubuki across the face.

"The Grey Ghost is invincible!" shouted the chuuni destroyer.

"I caught some of her pilots. You think she would give me some ice cream?" said the glasses wearing destroyer, her tears completely forgotten.

Similar sentiments could be heard across the American fleet, and Zuikaku could barely hear Kaga scoffing slightly in the middle of all the admirations that were directed towards the American carrier.

"Your people can celebrate with her later. Now, what kind of torpedoes are you carrying?" asked Nagato.

"Ma'am!" responded O'Bannon. "We destroyers were recently upgraded to Mark 16, The cruisers are still equipped with the Mark 8, however."

Nagato squeezed on her chin, thinking amidst the gunfire of her own ships. She suddenly let out a salvo of her own, surprising the poor American destroyer sailing beside her.

"Your Mark 16 should at least have the range if not the accuracy." Said Nagato finally. "Would you help us?"

"What a silly question. Of course we will." Responded O'Bannon. "Right, girls?!"

"AYE!" shouted all of the American ships in unison.

"Good. Yukikaze!" Nagato shouted.

"Y…yes, Ma'am!" answered the destroyer Yukikaze, quickly sailing closer to Nagato.

"I want you and O'Bannon to lead our destroyers closer to the enemy and let out your torpedoes together at near maximum range. Leave Libeccio, Max and Lebe for smoke screen duty."

"Yes, ma'am!" said Yukikaze and O'Bannon together.

"Good. Now, Cruisers!" Nagato shouted. "To the front rank!"

The cruisers quickly sailed from one side of the battleship line to the other, and firmly positioned themselves between the destroyers and the battleships.

"Immediately after the destroyers let out their torpedoes, we will go into a full retreat. I want the cruisers to act as a rear guard. Use your torpedoes to deter the enemies from chasing the rest of us. Kitakami, you're on the lead. Tenryuu, Atago, stay at the back of our formation and protect the wounded."

"Yes, Ma'am!" shouted Kitakami, followed by her fellow cruisers.

"What about the carriers?" asked Kaga.

"Do your planes still have bombs in them?"

Zuikaku shook her head.

"Unfortunately not. We've used them up when covering Tenryuu's retreat."

Suddenly, the wounded Johnston struggled out of Atago's breasts and opened her mouth.

"Do…do it like the escort carriers at Samar. M-…make fake dives and fake torpedo runs. Confuse them…" She said weakly, as if she had suffocated.

"Can you do that?" asked Nagato to the two carriers.

"We can." Said Kaga

"We can try, at least." Said Zuikaku.

Nagato nodded.

"Good. Everyone knows what they're going to do? Alright then, on my command..."

Nagato raised a hand, and Zuikaku could almost taste the tension in the air.

"GO!"

Nagato slammed her hand down, and the destroyers lurched forward and started charging towards the black wall of enemy ships like hounds on fire.

"Follow me, please!" said Yukikaze, ever so polite even in the battlefield.

"Covering fire! Keep their attention to us as long as possible!" commanded Nagato.

Nagato's fleet continued to fire sustained barrage. Now less concerned about accuracy and more about volume, they were firing not in unison, but in a state of almost competition as each ship reloaded as fast as she could, trying to fire more steel than the ship next to her.

The Abyssal were firing back, just as Nagato had wanted them to. By the time they figured out that the destroyers were more of an immediate threat, it was too late to aim their slow main batteries at them. The Abyssal secondary batteries started opening up, and Zuikaku saw the Benson Laffey and Yuudachi each took a blow to the stomach, but neither of them slowed down, they simply continued their charge towards the enemy as if nothing had happened.

Zuikaku's and Kaga's planes started making their fake runs, and the Abyssal took the bait. They swerved their ships and lost their speed in a meaningless attempt to dodge the incoming nonexistent torpedoes and bombs, destroying the firing solutions of their secondary batteries and allowing the destroyers to sail even closer as the enemy shots landed left, right, long and short all around them.

The destroyers started releasing their torpedoes, starting with Yukikaze. In a mere moment, the sea was saturated by Long Lances, the deadliest torpedoes in the world. The American destroyers needed to come a little bit closer to the enemy due to the range of their torpedoes, and as the Americans made their final approach, the Japanese destroyers, with their torpedo tubes empty and no reason to stay, refused to leave the side of their comrades and instead starting to fire their main guns insignificantly at the enemy, hoping to draw their ire and shells.

When the last American destroyer fired her last torpedo, Nagato swung her arm towards the Japanese main islands, and shouted at the top of her lungs.

"REEETREEAAT!"

All the ships in the fleet immediately turned away from the enemy, with the non-combatants, including Tenryuu and Atago carrying the wounded destroyers, sailing at the front, followed by the carriers and battleships. The cruisers sailed at quarter speed, ready to cover the retreating destroyers.

Zuikaku could hear a series of explosions and water splashes from the direction of the enemy fleet, but she and Kaga were too busy recovering their aircraft to look.

"Damn! What a destruction!" shouted Maya from somewhere.

"You saw that flash? Must've hit the powder storage." Said Tenryuu.

Zuikaku took a slight glance at the enemy fleet, and saw them burning red as bright as a sunset on the horizon, but somehow, they're still getting closer.

"Cargo ships! Is this already your maximum speed?" shouted Zuikaku.

"Sorry!" said one of the ships in blue coveralls.

"Kitakami!" shouted Nagato at Kitakami, way back in the formation with the other cruisers. "Delay them!"

"On it! Come on, you little lunatics!" shouted Kitakami, hurrying the destroyers to get behind her cruiser line. "Cruisers! 30 degrees port!"

The cruisers under Kitakami's command sailed left and into a course perpendicular to the main fleet, aiming their torpedo launchers at the enemy while providing maximum cover fire for the destroyers.

"Come on! Come on!" shouted Kitakami as the retreating destroyers one by one passed the smoke screen laid by the Italian and German destroyers, which then also proceeded to retreat behind the cruiser line. Libeccio was the last destroyer to pass through Kitakami.

"Oi, cavolo." Swore the Italian mildly.

"Now! Cruisers! Release torpedoes!"

The cruisers let out all of their port side torpedoes at once in a crisscrossing pattern towards the Abyssal fleet, and started sailing in course to join with the retreating main fleet. "Smoke up!"

The cruisers pumped oil inside their boilers and started spewing black smoke from their funnels that proceeded to hang low over the sea, breaking the visual between Nagato's main fleet and the Abyssal fleet.

"RUN AWAY!" screamed Kitakami, loudly and shamelessly unbefitting of a Japanese warrior. Zuikaku shared this sentiment.

Zuikaku ran with her fleet mates as fast as the bulky and slow support ships would allow them to. Even as Zuikaku heard a series of massive explosions from somewhere behind the fleet and realized that the enemy shells had suddenly stopped bombarding her, she did not look back. Zuikaku didn't know how long they actually ran, but the sky had already darkened and the first cluster of stars was already visible when Nagato finally ordered the fleet to slow down.

"Fleet." Nagato whispered. "Turn off all lights and turn twenty degrees starboard. We'll hide in the dark."

"Nee-san, we should recover our spotter planes first. They're running out of fuel." Said Mutsu somewhere in the formation.

"Keep one guide light on. They have to make do." Said Nagato.

Unlike carrier planes, recovering spotter planes from battleships and cruisers would involve dealing with wake-avoidance, arresting nets, lifting cranes, and all other factors that would considerably slow the fleet down. Fortunately, this also would give the fleet a chance to take a deep breath and actually do some damage assessment.

"Nobody got sunk, right?" asked Nagato.

"I don't think so. It's hard to tell in this light." Said Tenryuu.

"Just confirmed through radio that all of my submarines are safe, ma'am. They'll be doing perimeter patrol." Said Nimu who had suddenly surfaced right next to Zuikaku. Zuikaku would be surprised if she wasn't so tired.

"O'Bannon, I'll be joining them if you don't mind." Said another submarine who had surfaced near Tenryuu. She was a stranger to Zuikaku, a dark skinned and black haired girl wearing a drab one piece scuba suit, which made her almost impossible to see in the diminishing daylight.

"Sure Albacore. Go wild." Said O'Bannon.

The American submarine dived and disappeared, leaving Tenryuu with an awkward expression on her face. "Well, shit." She finally said.

"I'm going to make a roll call." Said Nagato as her spotter plane landed on the water right next to her. "Starting with the battleships. Nagato present. Mutsu?"

"Here, nee-san." Responded Mutsu.

"Fuso?"

"I'm here, Nagato-san."

"Warspite?"

"I'm here. Slightly battered but fine."

Nagato continued with the process until all of the ships that had sailed off from her base that day had been accounted for. Zuikaku was sure that the fleet had sailed an entire nautical mile by the time she was finished.

Then Nagato turned towards O'Bannon, who was still sailing beside her.

"Why don't we double this as an introduction, O'Bannon-san? Could you call your ships?"

O'Bannon raised her eyebrows.

"Hm? Oh, right, of course. Cruisers first then. Atlanta?"

"Here!" said the first American cruiser Zuikaku had saw, the red head in the drab colonial-era dress. When the cruiser spoke, Zuikaku noticed that the name ship of the Akatsuki class suddenly whimpered and hide behind her sisters.

"Juneau?"

"Yes." Said the curly blond cruiser, the one who had immediately asked for the condition of the wounded destroyer in Tenryuu's arms the moment she reached Nagato's fleet.

"Flint?"

"Oi." Said the tomboyish Atlanta, whose idea of a first impression involved the words 'devil's ass'.

O'Bannon raised three fingers of her right hand, counting. Satisfied, she continued calling her roster.

"Move on to the support ships then. Submarine tender Otus."

"Present." Said the Auburn haired ship wearing a black coverall. "I can do repair on other ships too if need be, by the way."

"Fleet oiler Neosho?"

"Present." Said the blond girl in the green coverall, who had just sailed next to Zuikaku. "Here you go."

Neosho handed Zuikaku a small cylindrical container with a straw attached to it before she immediately sailed on to the next ship. Zuikaku put the straw in her mouth and slowly sucked. Immediately she felt her energy being replenished.

"Liberty ship John W. Brown and the Victory ship Red Oak?"

"Present!" said the two almost identical girls in blue coveralls, almost in perfect unison.

O'Bannon raised some more fingers, entering the new data. Happy that none of the critical supply ships went missing, she continued.

"Last but not least, the destroyers. I myself O'Bannon and…Kidd?"

"Avast, matey! Captain Kidd is here!" said the destroyer wearing a tricorne, while raising her swords high and almost cutting the pants off the waist of the heavy cruiser Aoba.

"Black?" O'Bannon said, but there was no immediate answer. "Black, where are you?" she repeated, and suddenly a shadowy voice could be heard from nowhere in particular.

"I am the darkness, and as you can see or cannot see, I am everywhere."

O'Bannon smirked. "Yeah, that's Black alright. What about the double Laffey?"

"Present, Ma'am!" said the two Laffeys together.

"Porter?"

O'Bannon's call was only responded by a loud snore.

"PORTER!" O'Bannon shouted.

"Hmm..? wha..? Ah, good morning…" said the glasses wearing destroyer sleepily.

"Morning my…you know what? Whatever." said O'Bannon, clearly irritated. "Is the mad girl Johnston still floating?"

"Not exactly floating, but I'm alive, and surprisingly comfortable to boot." Said the American destroyer currently leaning blissfully against Atago's mighty bosom.

"Good for you. Now, the last one on the list…" O'Bannon paused, suddenly she looked a little distressed. "Tenryuu-san, is Sullivan alright?"

"She's breathing." Said Tenryuu after looking closely at the severely wounded destroyer in her arms. "Don't know how much longer I can say that, though."

"Let me see her. " said the submarine tender Otus, shuffling her way across the formation to reach Tenryuu's side.

After a minute or so of checking the silent destroyer with her hands, Otus began speaking.

"She's fine for the moment, but the sooner we get her to dock the better." Otus said.

"Oh, thank goodness." Prayed Juneau, before she cast her sight to the battleship Nagato with a pleading look in her eyes. "Ma'am, could we…"

"Yes, of course." Said Nagato, not letting the light cruiser to start begging before she accepted her request.

Nagato placed her spotter plane back on its catapult, and confirmed that she was the last one to do so.

"Fleet, full speed." She ordered. "We're going home."


	17. Reunion

Most of Zuikaku's fairies were already asleep by the time her fleet passed the island of Okinawa and started turning north towards Yokosuka, with only a few engineers, lookouts, and officers still awoke. This put the carrier in a state of dreamless sleep, resting, but still sailing and fully aware of her surroundings. Yet another useful, unique trait of Kanmusu biology that allowed them to operate long distances for extended periods of time.

As the moon reached its tallest point for the day, Zuikaku's fairies were woken up, not by an air raid siren, but by the smell of smoked bacon, few kilometers away from the nearest coastline

Zuikaku opened her eye, and was faced by the USS Kidd. Well, faced by her hat at least, since her face was almost entirely covered by her large tricorne as Zuikaku looked down at her.

The destroyer was carrying an aluminum tray filled to the brim with bacon, fried egg, mashed potatoes, and assorted vegetables and peas.

"Dinner, mate?" she offered.

"A bit massive for a late dinner, isn't it?" Zuikaku said.

"You need the energy, mate. Lookin' like a tit sailin' half asleep."

Zuikaku took the tray from Kidd, who immediately turned her rudder towards one of the blue clothed cargo ships, who quickly handed her yet another equally full tray. All around Zuikaku the American destroyers were sailing back and forth distributing food to every ship in the fleet, except for those who didn't have much tolerance for American food, like Shigure. The Japanese cruisers that had their hands preoccupied with wounded destroyers were 'serviced' by the Atlantas. Zuikaku could see USS Juneau offered a spoonful of food to Tenryuu who, judging by her expression, was not amused by the experience, but took it anyway.

Zuikaku took the plastic spoon buried inside the clump of mashed potatoes and started eating. Zuikaku had not eaten a lot of western food in her life, and thus the food on the tray tasted exotic for her. But it's definitely not a bad food, at least compared to what she fed her crew back in the war.

Just when her tray was half empty and her throat started feeling parched, Neosho arrived by Zuikaku's side, offering a small box and a straw.

"Juice? I've mixed it with oil." Neosho said with a sweet voice.

"Thanks." Zuikaku could only say.

Zuikaku continued her little American-prepared feast, and when she's finished, O'Bannon came by her to collect the empty tray. O'Bannon was also carrying a half-eaten boiled potato in her hand.

"Hmmp…ghood fhood?" O'Bannon asked, mouth full of potato.

"Good food." Zuikaku confirmed.

With her fairies' stomach completely satisfied, Zuikaku, and most of the fleet for that matter, continued sailing with a significantly better mood than before.

The date had already changed when the fleet were finally approached by a flotilla of state-of-the-art modern destroyers, relegated to coast guard duty when the extent of their usefulness, or lack thereof, became visible at the start of the Abyssal War. Few sailors aboard waved, and the fleet waved back.

The fleet were escorted through the last stretch of their journey, and into a special facility built a distance away from the original Yokosuka Naval Base, a facility that looked like a giant steel box protruding into the ocean from the coastline.

five by five the ships of the fleet entered a series of water tunnels built inside the facility, where a team of well-trained enlisted men and women quickly removed their riggings using a multitude of machinery before they finally entered the base proper. Zuikaku was amongst the first to enter the base, followed by the American ships.

"Woo." Flint whistled. "Nice crib."

"Looks like you guys took a battering." Said Akashi, who just showed up to greet the returning fleet. She was accompanied by another ship Zuikaku did not recognize. "Now where are those destroyers?"

"Here you go." said Tenryuu, handing the bloodied Sullivan to Akashi. Atago followed suit, but the half-asleep Johnston looked somewhat irritated when Akashi's assistant removed her from her 'bedding'.

"If I may, I would like to accompany them." said Juneau, her voice pleading.

Akashi looked silently at the commanding ships Zuikaku, Tenryuu, and Nagato before Tenryuu finally waved her hand.

"Just allow her. It's fine."

"Very well, then."

When Akashi had left with Juneau and the wounded destroyers, Nagato turned towards the fleet.

"Zuikaku, Tenryuu and I will report to the admiral. The rest of you can disperse, but stay at standby." ordered Nagato. "The rest of the American ships, please follow us to the admiral office."

With Nagato at the lead, three Japanese ships and a whole lot of American ships walked the well-cleaned, well-ventilated, and recently painted halls and corridors of the Yokosuka Kanmusu Naval Base. They were barely halfway to the admiral office when a voice that was familiar to all of them called out.

"You're here!" the voice exclaimed loudly

At the far side of the corridor, the slender figure of the USS Enterprise could be seen, wearing a civilian clothing consisting of a white ribbed sweater that's a bit too big for her and skintight olive yoga pants that were very finely showing her lower bodyline. She immediately ran toward Zuikaku's direction, her bare feet surprisingly silent.

"Enterprise!"

A pink ball of a destroyer suddenly blasted past Zuikaku's lower peripheral vision and was about to ram into Enterprise. Enterprise kneeled, ready to receive the little bundle of excitement.

"Porter!"

Enterprise lifted Porter into the air and began to spin like a carousel, sending the dangling destroyer's legs flying at a possibly lethal speed before stopping.

"Snuggles!" shouted Enterprise and Porter in a perfect harmony as Enterprise buried her chin into the thick pink hair of Porter, who was now hanging like a certain Australian mammal on Enterprise's waist.

It took no time for the rest of the American fleet to match Porter's enthusiasm. They quickly swarmed towards the carrier and started trading hugs and teary greetings all around, leaving the Japanese ships feeling somewhat awkward.

"You're all here!" said Enterprise with an almost unbound happiness, before her face suddenly turned grim. "Where's Albacore? Was she..?"

It was then Zuikaku realized that the submarine Albacore had disappeared. Zuikaku was sure that she was with the other American ships just a moment ago.

"She survived." said Otus, the submarine tender. "But you know our submarines, they don't like being seen. She's probably around hiding in someone's closet or under a bed."

"Well that's just swell." muttered Tenryuu.

Suddenly, from around the corner, the unmistakable form of the battleship Iowa appeared.

"Hello, everybody! How do you like the base so far?" shouted the battleship nonchalantly.

"IOWAA!"

"Oh shit."

The destroyer Porter let go of Enterprise's waist and immediately charged towards Iowa. Porter then jumped, slamming her face directly into Iowa's bountiful chest. Zuikaku watched with a mixture of surprise and amusement as the tiny destroyer knocked the massive battleship backward on her butt with a loud 'Blam'.

"IOWAA! IOWAA!" the destroyers cried, tears pouring like a waterfall.

"Hey, it's fine, it's fine." Iowa tapped on Porter's head, trying to calm her down to no avail.

"It…it was my fault… I tried to launch a torpedo but…but…and then Enterprise got separated and…" Porter tried to explain between sobbing, and utterly failed.

"I'm sure you did your best." Iowa ensured.

"W…will I get court martialed?"

"What? No! Of course not! You're too valuable."

Those words seemed to have worked on calming Porter down, as her sobbing started to cease. Iowa stood up, carrying the destroyer like a mother would.

And then, from behind Iowa, Admiral Goto walked in, followed by the secretary ship Ooyodo.

"You. The two cargo ships. Give me your inventory list." The admiral barked in a stern voice that silenced everybody in the corridor, including Brown and Red Oak, the specifically mentioned cargo ships.

Brown nervously pulled out a stack of papers from behind her coverall, and handed it to the admiral.

The admiral scrutinized the data written on the paper with a pair of old eagle eyes. After a while, her face started to mellow, before it outright brightened as she formed a massive grin on her face.

"YESS!" the admiral exclaimed in a somewhat uncharacteristic unprofessionalism, before pulling the Liberty ship into a stunning bear hug.

"So much resource! My gamble has paid off!" the admiral exclaimed, letting go of the confused Liberty ship. "Ooyodo! Notice the arsenal that we're going to do a massive refitting process for our ships!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"But not today of course!" added the admiral. "As I've seen it I do not need to arrange a funeral, am I correct?"

Zuikaku was the first ship to recover from the shock. All of the others, including the Americans, were still acting like they were suddenly confronted by a rambling mad woman.

"Ma'am! Flagship Zuikaku reporting! Our fleet has returned safely with all objectives completed! Few wounded on our side, but no sinking! Ma'am!" said Zuikaku with a formal salute.

"Good! Then we can party!" the admiral said suddenly. "Ooyodo! Announce that all available ships are to meet in the main recreation room for a welcome party!"

"yes, ma'am!" said Ooyodo immediately. It took a few moments for everybody else to process what exactly did they just heard.

"Alright!" Benson Laffey was one of the firsts to react, shouting with both arms in the air, clearly in the mood for celebration.

"Shouldn't we rest first?" asked Tenryuu wearily.

"Screw resting! Grogs! Grogs!" shouted Kidd.

"We shall party and sin so hard the heaven will bring brimstones upon us!" shouted Black.

"Well, I'm up for a light party." Said Nagato, probably partially motivated by the desire to not lose out to the Americans' spirit.

"I guess I could partake…" said Zuikaku.

" And of course, Zuikaku is paying for the sushi!" said the admiral.

"Wait, what?"

"Hey, this operation was your plan."

"I…" The admiral gave her a cheeky smile, and Zuikaku knew there's nothing she could do to escape this predicament.

"Oh, fine." Zuikaku finally said over the cry of her wallet.

"Great!" the admiral flicked her fingers. "Fleet! Follow me!"

The admiral turned and started to fast-walk towards the main recreation room, with everybody else following closely behind her, each with a varying level of excitement.

Zuikaku was about to follow, but then she felt someone tugging on her sleeve, pulling her to the back of the crowd, and then out of it. Zuikaku looked back, and was faced with the pale face and striking red eyes of the USS Enterprise.

"Shuush…." Enterprise hissed with a finger on her mouth, signaling Zuikaku to stay quiet.

Enterprise dragged Zuikaku into another corridor as the rest of the crowd walked on, too pre-occupied by the thought of hard liquor to notice two of their members missing. They stayed there until the sound of footsteps got fainter and fainter before disappearing completely.

"So…uh…anything I can help you with?" Zuikaku finally asked.

"Well, I…" Enterprise nervously pulled on her fingers. "I just wanted to say thanks for rescuing my friends. You know, personally. "

Enterprise looked somewhat unsure, scratching the back of her head and avoiding eye contact with Zuikaku.

Zuikaku smiled.

"It's not like I was doing it alone. You should thank the others too."

"And I will, later. But this operation wouldn't have been approved in the first place if not for you so… "

Enterprise stepped forward, closing her face to Zuikaku's. Zuikaku reflexively tried to step back, but Enterprise grabbed her hands, keeping her still.

"This one's for you."

Enterprise leaned her head to the side and pressed forward, bringing her head pass Zuikaku's peripheral vision.

Zuikaku could feel a warm breath touching her cheek, and then….

 _Chu._

Zuikaku was stunned. Her boilers flared up but her turbines refused to budge, leaving her standing still, quiet as a statue as she felt her body getting hotter and hotter. After a great effort, she finally managed to open her mouth.

"That's…"

"An absolutely platonic western greeting."

Enterprise winked and smiled, and suddenly Zuikaku realized how much she had missed the American carrier. Zuikaku was away for barely more than a day, yet it felt like she hadn't seen Enterprise for months.

"Welcome back, Crane." Enterprise said, poking her tongue out cheekily. She then turned towards the end of the corridor and started running, obviously to catch up with the rest of the American fleet.

As enterprise disappeared around the corner, she had once again left a certain Japanese carrier alone and dumbfounded. After a time, Zuikaku was finally able to quench her boilers to a manageable temperature and had her fairies hammered her frozen turbines and gears back into function. Her jaw was one of the first things to function normally again.

"Wow." She finally muttered.


	18. The Fleet's Idol

**A/N: So I had a go at writing M rated stuff. It featured Zuikaku. Check my profile if you're interested.**

* * *

"Ooyodo! give me the patrol route chart!"

"Yes, Ma'am! Admiral Rei has agreed to take on our duties for tonight! we are free until 1 PM."

Admiral Goto quietly checked on the piece of paper given by Oooyodo.

"less than 12 hours. slow down the booze, focus on the food."

"Ah, on that matter, The catering service you have specified said that they did not have the capacity to procure such a massive order at this hour and at such short notice."

"Then call for the manager. His name is Mr. Nakajima. Drop my name if you have to, and if he's still being difficult, say that you want to speak to the owner, Mr. Roger. He's an acquaintance of mine and I'm sure he can pull some strings."

"Acknowledged."

"Do you guys ever rest?"

Zuikaku had always been somewhat fascinated by how her admiral worked. She looked like a zombie, and nine times out of ten she'd look like she's perpetually preserving her energy, but nobody could question her vigor when there were works to be done.

"I am preparing for a little feast instead of a battle against the end of the world. this is a fu..."

The admiral suddenly stopped when she saw Akatsuki walked right next to her chair, carrying a glass of orange juice.

"...this is a flipping vacation for me. Anyway, Zui, girl, left the organizing to me. Go mingle and warn me if somebody is starting to undress."

"If you say so."

Zuikaku quietly left the admiral's side, a tray of cups and a bottle of mild liquor in hands. She proceeded to walk towards the group of carriers either standing or seated around a table at the corner of the room.

"Thirsty, anyone?"

There were five carriers in the room other than Zuikaku and Enterprise. Kaga, Akagi, Soryuu, Hiryuu, and Zuikaku's own dear sister, Shoukaku.

Seeing Zuikaku approaching, Shoukaku immediately greeted with a smile.

"Welcome back."

Zuikaku smiled back before putting her tray on the table. She carefully lifted the bottle of liquor and waited for each ship to take a single cup. She then opened the cork with a flick of her thumb, before moving in to pour for each of them by order of seniority.

"May your life be long and prosperous, senpai." Zuikaku said respectfully as she poured Kaga's cup to the brim.

"My gratitude." Kaga said in a proper, demure tone.

The rest of the carriers received their drinks in silence, and after Zuikaku had poured for herself, she took her seat next to her sister.

"You're not hurt." said Shoukaku, and that wasn't a question.

"Surprising, isn't it? Those Abyssal really wanted the Americans dead." Zuikaku said as she took a more relaxed seating position, leaning her back in a shallow angle and crossing her legs before taking a little sip from her cup.

"You are fortunate then. But I still would prefer if you're not being put in such a risk."

Noticing that Shoukaku looked especially agitated today, Zuikaku tried to give her sister a calming smile.

"Are you worried?"

"Yes."

Zuikaku burst into a small chuckle. "Please, sister. I'm not that weak. I've outlived all of you once, remember?"

Zuikaku made sure that the rest of the carriers couldn't hear that last part.

Shoukaku fidgeted, before facing back towards Zuikaku.

"Still, Zuikaku, if it's you or the Americans, I would always choose you."

"Ah." Zuikaku suddenly saw what's her sister getting at. "They've saved me, you know."

"Hm?" Shoukaku's eyes twisted into an inquisitive look.

"You've heard about the wounded destroyers? One of them took one for me. Without her, I'd be a soggy toast at the bottom of the ocean."

"Is that so?"

"Aye, and the new AA shells didn't hurt either. Felt like I suddenly had an Akizuki strapped to my side."

Zuikaku passed one of the shells given to her by Enterprise to Shoukaku, who immediately inspected it with care.

"So these were the things that shot down so many of my planes..."

Zuikaku took the shell back. "I, for one, consider the fact that today these are not being fired at us as a boon, Something that we should be grateful for, or..." Zuikaku secretly gazed at Kaga, whose sole attention was being directed at Akagi. "...or at least not being actively hostile to."

Shoukaku mulled for a moment before opening her mouth again.

"Then, I will reserve my judgment for now." she finally said with a sigh.

Zuikaku shrugged. "That's the best I could've hoped for, I gue..."

"Good morning everyone!"

Zuikaku was about to take another sip when the door to the main recreation room burst open and the fleet idol herself walked in like a storm, followed closely by her manager.

"We have a party! why wasn't I invited?! Who's in charge!?"

Zuikaku looked around, and saw the admiral and Ooyodo standing in the opposite corners of the room, each busy on her own phone. So busy in fact that they had completely missed the light cruiser wrapped from head to toe in blings, glints, and minks.

"Excuse me, but I think I should greet our new guest."

Zuikaku quietly separated herself from her group and approached the light cruiser Naka, who had suddenly become the center of attention in the room with her glittering blue evening dress and black feathery scarf, not to mention an attitude that was bombastic enough to topple a skyscraper.

"Hey Naka, we..."

"Zuiii!"

Zuikaku was barely able to open her mouth before Naka glomped and dragged her into a bear hug.

"Ow. my keel."

"Zui! I've missed you!"

"I've missed you too. Now would you kindly let me breathe?"

Naka let go of Zuikaku, then she immediately moved into a cutesy pose. She leaned her body sideway with her hands on her back, looking up expectantly towards Zuikaku's face, all in a well-calculated movement designed to make herself looked endearing. very idol-like.

"So, what's this party about, hum? and why am I not invited?"

"Well, it was kind of an impromptu welcome party..."

"Welcome party?" Naka put an index finger on her lower lip, looking around the room before her gaze stopped at the group of American ships.

"Ah, I see. They're finally here."

"Yes, they're..."

"You've done a rather shitty job, then."

Zuikaku looked at Naka. She's still in her 'sweet idol' mode, all smiling a cheery-faced. Zuikaku actually needed a moment to confirm that what she had just heard was actually coming from Naka.

"Look at them. The Japanese are partying in one side of the room, and the Americans in the other. I don't know about you but I don't think that's a good way to welcome...well, anybody."

Zuikaku was about to protest, but then she realized that Naka was right. The Americans were concentrated in a single corner of the room, talking among themselves, drinking, laughing, and overall having a good time, but none of them were actually talking to any Japanese ship.

"What do you suggest we do, then?" asked Zuikaku.

Naka pressed a knuckle to her temple, thinking. Then her face brightened, and Zuikaku could almost hear the silent 'aha!' echoing in the idol's head.

Naka turned to her manager, a middle-aged dark-haired female from Starfleet Production, Naka's current agent.

"Miri, is the equipment van still in the parking lot?"

"I...I believe so, Naka-san." The manager said meekly.

"Then run, tell them to wait for my fairies."

The manager dutifully obeyed without question, and maybe it's just Zuikaku's eye playing trick on her, but she could have sworn she saw a hint of fear in the manager's expression before she turned towards the door.

Zuikaku felt something jumping over her feet. When she looked down, she saw Naka's fairies running before they immediately disappeared under the tables, chairs, rugs, and inside every crack and ventilation shaft in the wall.

"My engineers will take control of the audio system and lights." said Naka as she walked towards the center of the room. "Be prepared to dance."

Naka pulled out a microphone out of nowhere, and Zuikaku prayed to her gods that she wasn't being literal.

"GOOD MORNING YOKOSUKA!" Naka screamed, her voice reverberated all across the base through the internal comm system, and If every pair of eyes in the room was not focused on her yet, she made sure they did by jumping on top of a table, giving the Japanese destroyers sitting around it a good look up her skirt.

"P...pink, nanodesu!"

The destroyer's announcement went completely ignored.

"ARE YOU READY TO PARTY!?" Naka screamed louder, straining the speakers that were definitely not designed for any attemp to rouse the masses.

"We are already partying!" shouted Flint.

"WELL, I DON"T SEE IT! ALL I SEE IS A BUNCH OF SCRAP METAL TAKING ALCOHOL LIKE KITTENS TAKE WATER! JAPANESE MODESTY! AMERICAN PRUDISHNESS! THEY MAKE ME SICK!"

A chorus of 'boo' erupted from both the American and Japanese side, which Naka responded by making a hand gesture with her hand, daring the crowd to give her more.

"That be fighting words, lass!" shouted Kidd.

"Now what's she doing?" said the admiral, who had suddenly appeared beside Zuikaku.

"Probably something that everybody but her will regrets later." said Ooyodo, standing behind the admiral.

"Fortunately for you, Auntie Naka has just the stuff to live things up!"

Naka reached under her scarf and pulled out two colorful pieces of paper.

"These, ladies, are the two first tickets to the new theme park that is about to open nearby, and I am willing to part with them to an individual who...exceeds my expectation."

Zuikaku could see dozens of tiny faces lit up, all destroyers. The bigger ships seemed underwhelmed, however.

"Now, why would I want that?" said Tenryuu.

Right after Tenryuu finished that sentence, the destroyer Ikazuchi broke off from her sisters and ran towards her caretaker.

"Tenryuu-nee! If she gave you the tickets, you'd go with me, right?"

"I..." Ikazuchi looked deep into Tenryuu's eye, smiling widely and showing her cute tiny fangs. "Yes, of course I would."

On the Americans side, Zuikaku could see a similar scenario happening with their own destroyers and bigger ships. Naka laughed, and if laughs were a language, Naka's would translate to 'just as planned'.

The doors opened and Naka's manager showed up again, followed by a group of burly men carrying gigantic speakers, all with fairies tight-roping on its surface, adjusting knobs and plugging cables.

When she saw what Naka was holding, the manager immediately realized what her charge was about to do.

"Naka-san, you can't do that! those are rewards for the annual contest winners!" said the manager, and she was completely ignored in favor for the burly men behind her.

"Ah! my roadies are here! now we can begin partying, properly!"

Naka jumped off from the table and jogged towards her manager.

"Just buy two more tickets with my next salary, okay?" she whispered, joining her hands in an apologetic pose while smiling cheekily.

"I..." the manager seemed conflicted, before finally conceding. "Fine."

"Good! Guitar!" Naka shouted guiltlessly, and one of her men responded by handing her an electric guitar, one of those odd V-shaped ones.

"Flying V." announced Naka proudly. "Prepare to get your lifeboats rocked off."

"To be honest, I'm not too keen about your generic idol songs." quipped Ooyodo.

Naka smiled and winked naughtily at the secretary ship. "Don't worry, friend! I'm actually looking to do something different today! Men, set these tables aside, I want a proper dance floor!"

Professionally the men did what was ordered, ignoring the annoyed looks of war machines made flesh as they were forced to stand up.

Naka jumped back onto her table. "Now, dolls, what I want, is for you to dance." Naka began, having already switched her standard microphone for a clipped-on one and freeing her hands for her guitar. "But not just waving your hands like morons. In welcome of our new friends, I want you to dance in pairs, one American and one Japanese ship each."

The room went quiet. It was obvious that nobody was too keen on the idea. At first, it seemed like Naka's idea was about to fall flat on its face, until the fast battleship Kongou walked slowly and confidently towards the American side, and grabbed the fast battleship Iowa by the hand.

The entire room watched in stillness as Kongo bent herself forward, not too far because the American was almost ridiculously taller than her, and kissed the top of Iowa's hand.

It was as if someone had dropped a large stone in a calm pond. Every ship in the room except few suddenly burst into cheers as Kongou dragged the blushing Iowa on the newly prepared dance space.

"Play it, you moistened bint." said Kongou to Naka, who responded with her own cheer.

"Well, then this is for you, the fast, hard-hitting couple! lights!"

The lights flickered into a carefully patterned sequence, obviously the work of Naka's engineers.

"Sounds!"

A loud feedback came from the massive speakers brought in by the men. On top of those speakers, Zuikaku could see fairies manning tiny drum set, keyboard, guitar, and bass.

"and..." Naka flicked her fingers, and like a magician, she spawned a golden pick out of nowhere. "...ROCK ON!"

There's no way Zuikaku could have prepared for what's coming next.

The sound of loud guitars and drums came first, blasting a wave that Zuikaku thought could almost tear her flight deck right off her hull. Then the bass and keys came along and the only thing Zuikaku could hear was her own ears begging for mercy.

Naka opened her mouth, and the sound coming out of it was definitely not your generic idol song. Naka sang in a deep contralto, almost reaching bass. She blasted the audience with enough power to make Zuikaku wished she was at Bikini Atoll instead.

 _Blonde bad and beautiful!_

 _In the hot summer sun!_

 _With her gray camo painted on!_

 _Fahrenheit, one-oh-one!_

Strangely, Zuikaku appeared to be in the minority. She could see some destroyers closing their ears, but most of the ships, and the admiral, were actually starting to dance to the tune.

Kongou and Iowa remained the only couple dancing together. Well, it's more Kongou dancing and Iowa clumsily trying to follow up. It would be hilarious to see the relatively small Kongou dominating the towering Iowa, if only Zuikaku didn't have the audio equivalent of Viking marauding fleet raiding her ear canals.

 _She got the long shafts to prove it!_

 _And the gears to move it!_

 _She's triple x movie just walking by,_

 _Low lines high bridge, Oh, I'm losing my mind!_

 _She's coming at me like a wrecking ball,_

 _Sixteen-inch shell right into my heart!_

Soon other pairs started forming up, and because of the difference in number, the American ships suddenly found themselves becoming very popular. Zuikaku noticed the destroyer William D. Porter being cornered by Wakaba and Hatsushimo, probably the two most masculine destroyers in the fleet with their red ties and bespoke suits.

 _Blonde bad and beautiful! Oh, she got it all!_

Zuikaku felt someone grabbing her hand, and found herself face to face with a smirking Enterprise. Without words, Enteprise dragged Zuikaku to the dance floor and amongst the already dancing couples. Any protest of Zuikaku was drowned by Naka's guitar solo.

 _I'd fight like a lion,_

 _To be her escort fleet!_

 _Yeah, sell my flag to Poseidon!_

 _To let her sail, all over me!_

Enterprise started dancing to the music. It was a youthful dance, full of twists and waving of body parts, and she was dancing close to Zuikaku. So close that Zuikaku could feel each twist and wave with her own body.

 _She's a calm eye in my storm of lust!_

 _Got me stalled flat but I'm ready to fall!_

 _She's like an AP bomb, a napalm flash!_

 _Fire on deck two and there's nothing I can do!_

Noticing Zuikaku standing still like a statue, Enterprise pouted in irritation. SHe grabbed Zuikaku by both hands, then started spinning. Zuikaku noticed that the world was rotating around her, but otherwise, she was utterly helpless, with her attention solely focused on Enterprise's red eyes.

 _She's coming at me like the blazing sun!_

 _I'm gonna get burned but I know she's the one!_

Enterprise flung her hands around Zuikaku's neck, and supporting herself on Zuikaku, she lifted one of her legs to rest on Zuikaku's hip. Enterprise then grabbed one of Zuikaku's hands and guided it to her waist, and as the music slowed down Enterprise slowly railed Zuikaku's hand down to her own hip, and then to her bare thigh.

Zuikaku felt something exploding inside her.

 _I see her coming my way!_

 _I got something to say!_

 _That girl is on fire!_

 _Red, hotwired, gonna fill ya with desire!_

Zuikaku didn't know how long exactly she and Enterprise danced, but when the lights stopped strobing and the music disappeared, Zuikaku felt that it was too soon.

"And now, the great me shall decide the winner!" shouted Naka. However, Zuikaku could no longer care about the result of the contest. For all she cared, she had already won.

Enteprise was standing a few steps in front of Zuikaku, looking slightly apologetic.

"Sorry about that. I really wanted those tickets and you're the only Japanese ship I've actually talked with." said the sweaty Enterprise guiltily. "I've heard about this park. It's Star Trek themed and, well, I really like Star Trek...You're not mad, are you?"

Zuikaku's sense suddenly decided to come home.

"Huh? No." Zuikaku smiled, trying to reassure Enterprise. "In fact, I kind of feel good...I mean, I'm okay."

Although Zuikaku tried to backtrack to avoid sounding like a pervert, the fact was that she indeed felt good.

Really _good_.

* * *

 **A/N: So yeah, in my headcanon Naka is a proper idol. Agent, fans, giant stadium filled with thousands of people waving glo-sticks, everything.**

 **Also kudos for anyone who recognized the song. You're probably an Australian.**


	19. Bath

**So here's a super short one before I start getting busy again. Call it a bonus chapter, if you will.**

 **Cheers.**

* * *

"Please, enjoy the bath."

The liberty ship Brown bowed to Zuikaku, before following the repair ship Akashi out of the changing room.

"Make sure you guys have a good soak, and if you need something to distract you please don't hesitate to call using that phone." Akashi pointed at the wall phone mounted at the far side of the changing room. "After all, you're going to be here for hours."

"Do you have Netflix here?" asked Enterprise, already taking off her pants. Zuikaku unconsciously averted her eyes, she had not expected Enterprise to have a preference for lace.

"We do have a streaming service here. I'll have a TV set waterproofed and send it to you. What do you want to watch?"

Enterprise finished pulling her shirt through her head before answering.

 _Ah, so she prefers strapless ones, huh?_

"Star Trek! The original one if possible. TNG is fine, too. Oh, wait! DS9 is also fine, just don't get me Voyager." listed Enterprise, probably with slightly more enthusiasm than what would be considered normal.

"Uhh...I'll see what I can do." said Akashi hesitantly before turning. "Brown, follow me, I will need some of your supplies."

"Yes, Ma'am!"

Brown dutifully followed Akashi after sliding the door to the changing room closed, leaving Zuikaku and Enterprise alone. Though Zuikaku could still hear their muffled conversation through the glass door.

"Did you understand what she was talking about?"

"Ma'am! No idea, Ma'am!"

Zuikaku felt like she could sympathize with their confusion.

Suddenly, Enterprise called out.

"You're not going, Crane?"

"Hm?"

"You're still fully clothed."

"Oh, right."

Zuikaku began to strip. 'Public bath'-style docking facility was a part of Kanmusu operation unique to the Japanese. As Zuikaku understood it, other nations generally used separate bathtubs for each individual ship, with curtains or walls to separate them. Zuikaku had always been fascinated by how different ships from different countries reacted to Japanese culture, and while watching huge caucasian women lazying around a kotatsu eating tangerines was amusing, nothing could highlight the cultural contrasts between nations like a public bath.

The British and the Germans would feel horrified about the idea of exposing themselves in a public space. The American generally would feel no shame, or rather, a lack of it, being overly loud while others were trying to relax. The French and the Italians would need to be restrained from stripping outside of the designated space.

Curiously, Zuikaku currently felt like a British for some reason, and an overly prudish Victorian British at that. She felt weirdly uncomfortable as she took off her clothes piece by piece in front of another girl, even though she had done so countless times before.

 _Dammit, I should've shaved..._

Zuikaku's bottom half was still untouched when Enterprise finished removing her underwear.

"Having a trouble, Crane? You're being suspiciously slow."

Zuikaku's body froze up at the sight of naked Enterprise. Apparently, Pennsylvanian steel made for a godly smooth Kanmusu skin.

 _So white..._

"Do you need help?"

Enterprise approached Zuikaku and put her hands on Zuikaku's waistband, ready to pull her skirt down. This prompted Zuikaku to jump back.

"NO! Ah, I mean, I'm fine, I got this."

Enterprise tilted her head, looking confused before she finally gave out a shrug.

"Well, if you say so. I'll go first then." Enterprise began approaching the door to the bath proper. "I should use the shower first, right?"

Zuikaku's answer was almost autonomous. "Y...yes. You need to clean yourself up thoroughly before entering the water."

"...since the bath is for relaxation purpose only. Well, normally at least. I've read up on it, you know." Enterprise said somewhat smugly before she disappeared through the door.

When Enterprise disappeared from sight, all higher functions returned to Zuikaku's brain, and she immediately stripped the rest of her clothing and rushed through the door. Inside, she found Enterprise had already taken a seat on a stool in front of the large mirror that covered half of the entire eastern side of the room, soaking herself with one of the flexible shower heads attached to the wall.

The way Enterprise bathed was very typical for a Kanmusu. Since disease and plague could spread really easily in a packed ship, cleanliness was generally encouraged amongst the crew of any large warship. After all, can't make the enemy dead when you have the Black Death running amok in your own ship.

This crew habit would actually be represented by the ship when she attained human form. Hence most Kanmusu were very tidy, especially when regarding personal hygiene. Thus, the things Zuikaku saw Enterprise doing were totally normal. The way she swiped her hair back to wash behind her ears, the way she lifted her modest breasts to clean under them, The way she ran her hand along her thighs and wiped between her legs, and the way she raised her arms to reach her smooth armpits...

Those are completely normal behavior for a Kanmusu.

Yet for some reason, Zuikaku felt an urge to praise the higher power.

 _Thank you, Lord._

* * *

 **"Hey, what can I say? Except, you're welcome!"**  
-Dwayne "'The Rock' Johnson-


	20. Their First Date, Part 1

**A/N: If you're not a Star Trek fan half of the jokes in this chapter would probably pass right by you. I'd recommend having one tab open in G** **oogle search** **.**

* * *

If you looked north from the Yokosuka Naval Base and past the site where the battleships Mikasa used to rest her old steel near the edge of the Tokyo Bay, you'd see a large artificial island standing steadfastly off the coast of Yokohama.

This island used to host the Yokohama Hakkejima Sea Paradise, an amusement park-aquarium hybrid that's once regarded as one of the top ten largest amusement parks in all of Asia. Opened in 1993, the park had been attracting five million visitors yearly and featured in plenty of notable Japanese popular culture, including being destroyed in the movie 'Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla', until it was destroyed for real in the beginning phase of the Abyssal War.

After Zuikaku and her comrades finally managed to push the Abyssal back to the open sea, the island was left abandoned before it was bought off by a certain Chinese billionaire, who had claimed that she wished to 'bring a sense of normalcy in a world gone mad'. Said billionaire was very open about her preference for the sci-fi genre and apparently had built her mansion in Guangdong by modeling it after a fictional spaceship. To be specific, she had modeled it after the 'NCC-1701-D, USS Enterprise', from the supposedly popular American TV show 'Star Trek: The Next Generation'. The exact same show was also what said billionaire had demanded her architects to use as a reference when they were designing the new amusement park that was to be built on top of the ruin of the old Sea Paradise.

Zuikaku was waiting in the newly furnished Hakkejima station, part of the Kanazawa Seaside Line that hugged the coast of the Kanazawa ward in the city of Yokohama. The chrome-heavy furnishing of the station strongly reflected the first morning rays from the large glass window that directly overlooked the opening of the Uraga Channel, prompting Zuikaku to reach for her sunglasses. She took one more clear look at the arrival schedule before putting on her sunglasses over her newly healed eyes.

Enterprise should be arriving soon if she didn't get lost. Zuikaku had offered to wait until her consultation with Akashi was finished before heading off to the park together, but Enterprise insisted that Zuikaku went ahead first. It appeared that the non-freight train system in America was, in Enterprise's words, 'a bit of a shambles', and she had wanted to try traveling in a Japanese train by herself for some time.

Well, if there's one thing the Japanese could be proud of, it'd be their trains. Zuikaku just hoped that Enterprise didn't get lost, or worse, groped.

Zuikaku suddenly found herself unreasonably angry. She considered reaching for her phone before realizing how silly that'd make her sound, acting like an overly zealous boyfriend. This was not a weekday, and the line Enterprise should be using went around a military base and straight to the entrance of an amusement park, so the carriage shouldn't be too packed. Even if it's not, Enterprise was definitely the kind of woman that could take care of herself. Still, she could be lost...

Zuikaku was already reaching for her jacket pocket when the sound of the numerous braking steel wheels of an E7 series train suddenly filled the station, and Enterprise stepped out of a carriage labeled as 'ladies only'.

Enterprise looked around the station before she finally found Zuikaku.

"Ah, there you are!" Enterprise greeted as she approached Zuikaku. "You're looking a bit stressed. Are you okay?"

"Huh? no! I mean yes! I'm fine!" assured Zuikaku, her brain scrambling to find words.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course! absolutely peachy."

"Then what are we waiting for? let's go already!"

Enterprise walked a few steps enthusiastically before immediately stopping.

"Uhh...which way was it again?"

Zuikaku tried to force down a chuckle but failed, and received a light jab on her shoulder for her trouble.

"Uhh...nice clothes." Zuikaku complimented as the two walked downstairs. Enterprise was wearing a sky blue blouse with very short sleeves, and judging by how tight it was hugging her body, it was definitely tailor made. On her lower part, she was wearing a white cotton skirt that matched the color of her short heeled shoes. Her blouse was tucked in neatly inside her skirt, separated by a small white belt with a circular brass buckle that complimented her yellow handbag.

"Thanks to you. This is my Sunday best. Red Oak was carrying this for me."

Hearing that, Zuikaku felt glad that she managed to persuade the admiral to mount a rescue operation. Not that she wasn't before, but seeing Enterprise dressed nicely was definitely its own reward.

Zuikaku realized what she had just thought of, and felt the skin of her face slowly warming, and she doubted it was because of the sun.

Hiding her face under her sunglasses, Zuikaku led Enterprise down and out onto the street, periodically glancing back to make sure that Enterprise didn't get swept away by the many people that were going to the same destination as them. There used to be three bridges connecting the artificial island to the mainland that accommodated motor vehicles and pedestrians, but one was destroyed, so Enterprise and Zuikaku needed to walk a bit far from the station to reach the new pedestrian bridge.

As the two carriers walked away from the tall buildings on the coast and started stepping on the concrete surface of the open pedestrian bridge, Zuikaku could feel the familiar tidal wind tugging on her twin tails, pulling her head to the side. Meanwhile, Enterprise was desperately trying to kept her well treated and well combed blonde hair from flying across her eyes, a fact that Zuikaku found hilarious but wisely kept quiet about.

Zuikaku noticed that there were a few non-Japanese people walking with them, and a lot of them looked very well off. Maybe the owner of the park decided to invite some of her personal friends for the opening?

"Oh, that's the King of Jordan." said Enterprise, subtly pointing at a middle-eastern looking man in the crowd, surrounded by muscular men in conspicuous black suits.

"What."

"He played a background character once in the episode thirty-five of 'Voyager', if I remember it correctly."

"That's your only concern about the fact that there's a royalty here? that he used to play a part in a sci-fi show?"

"That's the only part that matters for me."

Zuikaku shook her head, silently muttering the word 'unbelievable'.

Enterprise and Zuikaku continued to walk slowly side by side, enjoying the sea breeze until they arrived at the large gate that marked the entrance of the park. A huge, brightly colored sign on top loudly announced the name of the establishment in an eye-catching font.

KAMIN OF KATAAN MEMORIAL PARK

Enterprise chuckled when she read the name. It was obvious that the name wasn't a somber as Zuikaku had initially though.

From inside the park, the noise of screaming and excitement could already be heard.

"Tch. we missed the opening ceremony." said Enterprise, obviously irritated.

"I'd say that your maintenance was more important. How are your planes, by the way?"

"Akashi said that she'll be able to refill my hangar tomorrow. But they can't summon the new batch of pilots until the day after."

Zuikaku nodded as she and Enterprise walked inside one of the lines to the ticket booths.

"You have the tickets, right?" asked Enterprise.

"Sure." answered Zuikaku, pulling the two tickets from her jeans pocket. "You...uh, you dance well."

"Thank you. I guess I'm a natural." Enterprise smiled proudly.

After a short wait, the two ships finally reached a ticket booth. It was manned by a man in costume, a costume with large prosthetic ears and nose. He warmly welcomed Zuikaku and Enterprise, checked and marked their tickets, and remotely opened the gate for them.

"That's a Ferengi, a mercantile species from the planet Ferenginar, and no, they're not space Jews."

"I haven't said anything."

"But you were thinking it."

Zuikaku and Enterprise walked inside the park proper, and straight into an open space that was clearly designed to give a wide view to a large part of the park, letting newly arrived guests to quickly planned their recreation route. Looking at the attractions, Zuikaku was impressed. She personally hadn't been to any type of amusement park before, but she had seen a picture of Disney's 'Tomorrowland' on the internet, and this park seemed to be purposely designed to top that.

"So...what are we going to do first?" asked Zuikaku, her eyes scanning the area for a public map, preferably one with a red dot that said 'you're here!'.

"Hey, is that Naka?" said Enterprise, pointing at the far side of the opening.

Zuikaku tilted her sunglasses and squinted, and indeed, Naka was standing on top of some sort of stage, surrounded by a large mass of people. She was wearing a combination of what looked like a tight red shirt and tight black trousers, prancing around the stage wielding a microphone while occasionally pointing it at the audience.

"Is that some sort of audience participation game?" said Zuikaku.

"No idea, but it certainly looks interesting!" said Enterprise, already jogging towards the stage with her eyes gleaming.

"W...wait!"

Zuikaku chased after Enterprise, and soon she could hear Naka shouting from the top of the stage.

"Okay, next question, what was the fate of the 'Yamato' in the eleventh episode of the second season of The Next Generation?"

A little girl, probably no older than ten, immediately raised her hand. Naka gestured at the girl and one of the park staff, also dressed in red, approached the girl and gave her a microphone.

"Yamato's computer was infiltrated by an Iconian virus, and her system was forced to run the antimatter disposal procedure with the reactor door still tightly closed, resulting in an uncontrolled matter/antimatter collision that ended the Yamato in a violent explosion." the girl said with a squeaky voice. Zuikaku personally knew of one super battleship that would flip out if she heard her answer.

"Correct!" Naka shouted, and Zuikaku saw the girl's parents looking at their girl with enough approval that you'd be forgiven to think that their children had just won a Nobel prize.

"For the prize; a high-quality statue of Tasha Yar made by Kotobukiya!"

Enterprise looked with envious hunger as a plain white box was delivered to the girl, and Zuikaku knew that she would raise her hand immediately when Naka asked the next question.

"Next question, then! What was Captain Picard's last word as he commanded the Enterprise-D against three Klingon K'vort class battlecruisers?"

"Fifteenth episode, third season!" Enterprise shouted, raising her hand high. Then she cleared her throat before emulating the voice of an old man, not even waiting for the microphone.

'Attention all hands. As you know, we could outrun the Klingon vessels. But we must protect the Enterprise-C until she enters the temporal rift. And we must succeed! Let's make sure history never forgets... the name... Enterprise. Picard out.'

...and then she provided the Japanese translation just for good measure.

The crowd applauded, obviously impressed by Enterprise's hardcore otaku memory. Naka gestured, and a staff approached Enterprise and gave her two colored pieces of paper. Zuikaku felt a sense of deja vu.

"Another two tickets?" asked Enterprise.

"Yes, for the nationwide premiere of 'Galaxy Quest 2'" said the park staff with a smile.

This information was clearly news to Enterprise.

"They've made 'Galaxy Quest 2'?!" shouted Enterprise loudly.

"Have you been living under a rock, girl? the trailer has been out for months." said one other guest.

"I...I've been busy...wow, next you'll tell me that Spaceball 2 is in the making."

"Actually I think the Blueray has been out since last week." said the very same guest.

"Dammit."

Zuikaku carefully stepped closer to the cursing Enterprise.

"How come you keep getting free stuff?" Zuikaku whispered.

"Well, they call me 'The Lucky E' for a reason."

Back on stage, Naka had already moved on to the next question.

"What is the favorite drink of Worf, son of Mogh?"

Enterprise immediately raised her hand, only for Naka to wiggle a finger in front of her.

"Sorry, lady! only one prize per person!"

Receiving this rejection, Enterprise responded as any mature adult would, by which we meant she slammed one leg onto the ground and shouted.

"CURSED!"

* * *

 **A/N: Seriously, though, kudos for whoever actually knows what is the favorite drink of Worf, son of Mogh. You big, big nerd.**


	21. Their First Date, Part 2

"So, how much?" asked Zuikaku to the young woman manning the cash machine.

"Romulan ale, Jumbo Mollusk, Viinerine, and Osol Twist, 6 portions each. Those added up to..." The woman said the price Zuikaku needed to pay, and Zuikaku suddenly remembered why capital ships generally didn't eat outside the base.

Zuikaku was still grieving over her finance when she and Enterprise got out of the restaurant and back into the sea of people.

"In our days, that kind of money could buy a house." said Zuikaku.

"Well, death, taxes, and inflation, right?" responded Enterprise, looking oddly guilty. "Sorry that I haven't received my paycheck yet. Do I owe you?"

Zuikaku shrugged. "Nah, it's fine. Never used my money for anything but books anyway."

Enterprise looked at Zuikaku with a hint of fascination. Maybe she didn't expect her to be a literature girl?

"I'll lend you some of mine, then! what kind of books do you like?" said Enterprise eagerly.

"Well, nothing fancy. Mostly historical fictions. Aubrey-Maturin series, Honor Harrington...or something similar."

Enterprise put a finger on her chin. "Well, Brown only had enough space for one series from my collection, so I actually only have 'Temeraire' for now."

"Never heard of it. is it any good?"

"Well. the story is about naval warfare in the Napoleonic era..."

"Okay." That actually sounded right up Zuikaku's alley.

"...but with dragons."

Alright, Zuikaku didn't expect that twist.

"It's really fun. Sometimes it kinda feels like having carriers in the age of sails, but the planes are dragons."

Zuikaku curled her lips and nodded. "Well, I'll check it out, at least."

Enterprise perked up. "I'll bring them to your room later, then!"

"Uh..." Zuikaku suddenly sounded hesitant, which only drove Enterprise's curiosity.

"Hm? Do you prefer to go into my room instead, Crane?" Enterprise smiled teasingly.

Zuikaku flustered. "Uhh, no, my room is fine."

"Good. Expect me arriving at about 1900 hours."

"Right."

Zuikaku calmed herself and was just starting to think of a new topic to talk about when the visage of a single old man in the crowd caught her attention.

Somehow, the old man stood out among the hundreds of men and women walking around. He did not wear any sort of special clothing or anything that could catch Zuikaku's eyes. Actually, he seemed to be going out of his way to wear the most non-descript outfit possible. Gray trousers, and a blue linen shirt folded and unbuttoned to match the increasingly hot weather as the sun was nearing its apex. Yet there's just something about the man that tugged at Zuikaku. It could be the man's age, which was clearly older than the majority of the other patrons, or maybe it was the fact that he was just standing there still amongst the perpetually moving crowd, watching, like the top of a rock jutting out from the surface of a river.

Whatever made the man special, Enterprise seemed to have caught it, since when Zuikaku noticed, she was already running towards the man with a notebook and a pen that she had just taken out from her bag in hand.

Zuikaku watched silently as Enterprise approached the elderly man and initiated a conversation with him. It was obvious that Enterprise recognized the man, judging by how familiar their interaction appeared to be. This left Zuikaku in a dilemma as she considered whether or not it was appropriate to join in.

Finally, Enterprise gave her notebook and pen to the man, and Zuikaku watched with an odd sense of envy when Enterprise's face lit up to rival the daylight as a wrinkled hand wrote something in her notebook. After he finished, the old man gave the book and the pen back to Enterprise, and they both bowed each other goodbye before Enterprise ran back towards Zuikaku.

When she was right in front of Zuikaku, Enterprise opened her book with a childlike pride in her eyes, showing Zuikaku a quickly handwritten note on a white page.

The page started with 'for Swanson', followed by a large stylistic writing at the bottom that Zuikaku guessed to be a signature.

"George Takei?"

Enterprise touched her forehead in realization. "Oh, right, We've only watched some TNG yesterday, so you probably didn't recognize him. He was in the original series as one of the main supporting characters."

Was that supposed to be a common knowledge? the way Enterprise said it certainly made it felt like it was.

"And who's 'Swanson'?"

"That's the surname of the Secretary of the Navy back in 1936 when I was launched. His wife sponsored my launch, so I often use her name whenever I need to pass off as human. What, you don't have a human name, Crane?"

"Nah, I don't get out of the base much."

Having a second name was actually quite common for a Kanmusu, especially for those with 'odd' names like Enterprise, Chikuma, Iowa, Warspite, or indeed, Zuikaku. This helped them to mingle normally in human society without using the names that had been solely associated with war machines. For a Kanmusu to use her real name among civilians would be like a soldier insisting on being referred by and only by their military rank in a non-military setting, like in a Sunday mass. It'd be just...weird.

"So...Takei, huh?"

"His father was from Yamanashi if I remember it correctly."

Zuikaku watched as 'Takei' disappeared among the crowd, a strange feeling of discomfort lingered in her.

"Is he an American?" Zuikaku asked.

"Well, yes." Enterprise answered as if it was obvious.

"How old is he?"

"Uhh...his birthday is in April, so about 80 years old, maybe...ah."

Enterprise seemed to have suddenly realized the true nature of Zuikaku's questions.

"He'd still be a newborn when we...started." Zuikaku began, barely audible over the sound of people. "Did...did they 'get' him?"

Long story short, 1942 wasn't a great time to be a Japanese-American.

Zuikaku saw Enterprise's face turned gloomy for a second before she looked down and hid her eyes with her bang, making it impossible to perceive her expression.

"His family got sent to a horse stable in California...I think." Enterprise whispered.

Zuikaku looked back at the spot in the crowd where the man had disappeared.

"As an infant? Damn, that's harsh."

Unfortunately, Zuikaku was looking the other way. Otherwise, she might've seen the rising rage on Enterprise's face and kept her words to herself. The moment Zuikaku realized her mistake, Enterprise had already opened her mouth.

"WELL! AT LEAST MY PEOPLE DIDN'T USE INFANTS FOR SWORD PRACTICE!"

Zuikaku almost leaped backward. Enterprise's sudden fury came completely unexpected, both for Zuikaku and for a large number of people around her. The two carriers stood still, watched by the suddenly silent crowd as Enterprise glared at Zuikaku with the look of utter spite and disappointment.

Finally, Enterprise realized that she was being watched. The people at the back of the crowd had started whispering something. Zuikaku couldn't tell what they were talking about, but judging by their expressions, Zuikaku couldn't imagine that it was something endearing.

"I..." Enterprise looked around her, only to be looked back by numerous pairs of judging eyes. "I need to go."

Enterprise dashed away from Zuikaku and through the crowd, disappearing before Zuikaku could as much as shout the word 'wait'. With Enterprise gone, the crowd's attention now solely focused on Zuikaku, their dozens stares only served to increase Zuikaku's stress level.

"Oh, dammit."

Zuikaku moved her legs and ran towards the general direction of Enterprise's last position, cutting through the crowd. It's only after a few minutes of running that Zuikaku accepted that she had lost her.

Zuikaku was starting to panic when a voice sounded from behind her.

"Need help?"

Zuikaku looked back and saw a small person wearing jeans, well-shined leather shoes, and a black hoodie. Zuikaku could immediately felt the almost natural scent of danger emanating from this person, and for a moment Zuikaku thought that she was about to be mugged until the person took off her hood from her head.

"Albacore-san?"

"Aye." the dark-skinned girl nodded.

"What are you doing here?"

"Stalking carriers."

That was not the answer Zuikaku wanted to hear.

"You...you were watching us?"

"Oh, definitely." Albacore folded her arms behind her head, looking obnoxiously relaxed. "You two had a good vibe going until you fucked it up."

"I...wait! why were you stalking us in the first place!?" Zuikaku shouted, putting all of her stress in a single sentence. The submarine did not even look perplexed.

"Well, now that I have legs I think it's a good thing to learn how to use them properly. I've mastered sneaking on and in waters, now I'm going to master sneaking on land." For emphasis, Albacore clicked the heels of her high-class shoes on the asphalt. "Plus I'm always a sucker for a budding romance story."

Zuikaku instantly felt her boilers figuratively being replaced by a pair of twin volcanoes.

"R...romance...?"

"If you're going to deny it, don't bother. I've already observed you two and formed my own opinion, and I'm sticking to it." Albacore raised her arms and opened her mouth for a massive, inelegant yawn. "Put it simply, I want to help you two."

Zuikaku shook her head furiously. " 'We' don't need any help, thank you very much. Especially not regarding r...romance." Zuikaku stuttered, ruining her chance to actually sound convincing.

Albacore clicked her tongue. "Lady, you two need more help than a pregnant woman in her ninth month on the lowest deck of the Titanic. Just give me your phone number so I can message you, and put your phone on vibrate and at hand. It'd be almost impossible to hear anything from a phone in this kind of crowd."

"We use E-Mails for short messages in Japan." said Zuikaku, not sure why she's even still talking to the stalk-crazy submarine.

"Then give me your address. I'll turn on my phone's infrared."

Albacore pulled out her phone and looked expectantly at Zuikaku. Zuikaku hesitated for a moment, but she finally gave way to Albacore's insistent staring. She pulled up her own phone and turned on the infrared, ready to exchange address.

Having received Zuikaku's mail address, Albacore smiled. "And now, to find myself a Yorktown. Blink."

"What?"

Zuikaku blinked, and when she opened her eyes, Albacore was gone, as if she was never there.

"How the heck did she do that?"

Just as Zuikaku finished asking that question, her phone began to vibrate in her hand, the screen indicated that she had received one message from 'Suddendeepseadeath. at . gmail . com'. Zuikaku opened the mail, and there was only a single word; wait.

Figuring that she had already been pulled along into the submarine's probably badly advised plan and that there's nothing she could do at this point, Zuikaku found herself a bench, slumped her body onto it, put her sunglasses into her jacket pocket, and waited.

It took almost less than a minute after Zuikaku began regretting her life decisions when she received another mail from Albacore.

'Found her. Ferris wheel, north of you. meet me at the entrance.'

Zuikaku raised her gaze upwards and to the North. The Ferris wheel Albacore mentioned was not as eye-catching as the roller coasters and tower-based attractions scattered all around it, but the facade of a circular furry creature emblazoned on the side was rather distinctive.

Zuikaku took a deep breath, flooding her boilers with air and pushing her engine to war capacity. Zuikaku picked herself up from the bench and began to move her legs. She ran, faster than any normal human could realistically be, apologizing all the way as she accidentally knocked the men and women that dared to stand in her path.

In an almost instant, Zuikaku reached the entrance of the Ferris wheel, just as Albacore had specified. Zuikaku looked at the name of the attraction written on a sign at the side of the entrance.

'ROLLING TRIBBLES'

The line was suspiciously empty, at the front of the gate another makeshift sign had been placed; 'Exterminating Tribbles, closed until 2 PM.'

Zuikaku felt her phone vibrated in her pocket, it was another message.

'What are you waiting for? Get in.'

Looking around to make sure nobody was specifically watching her, Zuikaku hesitantly snuck through the half open gate and towards the nearest Ferris wheel capsule, shaped like a giant furball. She looked up and immediately got amazed by how tall the structure was, and how she used to be taller when she was still made of steel.

"Finally, you're here."

Zuikaku looked to the side, and inside the box that usually one would assume to be the control room for the wheel's operator, she saw Albacore, dressed in the ubiquitous red shirt of the park's staff.

"How did you get that clothes?" There were a thousand questions Zuikaku wanted to ask to the submarine, but for some reason, that one came up first.

"Don't worry, I didn't kill anyone. I'm going for a Silent Assassin run." said Albacore, pulling out what looked like an empty medical syringe from her back. "Fortunately he was in my size. Now, we have about an hour before he wakes up, so we better hurry."

Zuikaku was sure that in some bizarre parallel world, what Albacore had just said would probably make sense. Not in this world, however.

"You...what exactly are you planning to do?" Zuikaku asked, now exceedingly worried not only for her own well-being, but also for the well-being of anyone within 7 kilometers radius.

"Well, I've read in some of your 'manga' that a Ferris wheel is a great place for a couple to talk things out." Albacore said, smiling widely and showing two rows of white teeth that contrasted her skin. "Enterprise is in capsule six, currently in the eleven o'clock position."

Albacore pointed up, and Zuikaku's eyes instinctively followed. Most of the capsules of the Ferris wheel stood eerily still, but one of the uppermost capsules was shaking wildly, as if it was containing an agitated, really furious monster inside it.

Zuikaku's face went pale as she realized what was going on.

"YOU'RE TRAPPING HER UP THERE!?"

"Yes." answered Albacore in an irritatingly flat tone. "Otherwise she'll run the moment she sees you."

"Bu...but..what..." Apparently, the sheer concentration of Albacore's madness had short-circuited Zuikaku's brain, because she suddenly could no longer form a proper sentence.

"Just get in, alright? I'll give you two thirty minutes."

Albacore pulled some levers on the control panel, and the Ferris wheel began to creak and turn counter-clockwise.

"Wait..." Zuikaku whimpered, but the wheel refused to listen. Zuikaku partly wanted to run away, but it's as if her feet were stuck in quicksand, she's already in too deep to get out now.

Finally, capsule number 6 arrived in front of Zuikaku, and when the handle turned, Zuikaku's body unconsciously moved into a fighting stance.

"Finally!" said Enterprise as she opened the door. "A technical problem on the first day? seriously, you-"

Enterprise's words stopped in her throat when she realized who the person in front of her was. Zuikaku had expected to receive a punch the moment the door opened, but seeing that enterprise was instead looking as confused as her, Zuikaku went out of her fighting stance and settled for a simple nervous wave.

"Uh...hi."

Zuikaku wasn't given the time to utter any other word before she felt a mighty kick on her back, which sent her crashing onto Enterprise and onto the capsule's floor. She had only managed to catch a glimpse of the smiling Albacore before she closed the door shut.

"Now, you either make up, make out, or kill each other. Cheers!" said Albacore through the glass before she rushed back to the control panel with the look of sadistic glee on her face.

Zuikaku immediately removed herself from Enterprise, not even realizing how red Enterprise's face was. She quickly attempted to open the capsule's door, but as she had expected, it was locked.

Zuikaku stood like brain-dead in front of the door, not even dare to look back to face Enterprise until the capsule stopped at the top of the wheel.

"Well?" Enterprise said, trying to poke Zuikaku to start explaining. "What the heck was that?

"Honestly, I have no idea." said Zuikaku as she took a seat in one of the benches in the capsule, still refusing to look Enterprise in the eyes. "I think she wants us to talk."

"Talk?" said Enterprise, unbelieving of what she had just heard. "This is rather extreme just to make us talk, isn't it?"

"For a submarine, she is rather impatient." commented Zuikaku, cupping her face in her hands. "I'm sorry."

"No need to be sorry. The moment we get down I'll equip my planes with enough ASW to create a deep sea trench." said Enterprise, before she remembered that her hangar was empty. "Oh, wait. My hangar is empty."

Zuikaku shook her head. "No, it's not that. It's about our argument before."

Enterprise tilted her head quizzically before crossing her arms in a demanding manner. "Continue."

"I was being stupid. I thought I was making a casual remark. I didn't think that you'd react that way."

Zuikaku could hear Enterprise exhaling loudly. "I'm sorry too. I was little overreacting back then. I shouldn't be making that much of a scene in a public space."

Well, that was surprisingly easy.

Zuikaku raised her face, and saw that Enterprise had already taken a seat right in front of her. "What do you think of me, Crane?"

"W...what?"

"We've worked alongside each other nicely so far, but I'm honestly not sure why. I've killed your comrades, bombed your soldiers, sunk your convoys, and starved your people. Those are not things that you can just forget. So I want to know what you actually think of me, of the Grey Ghost."

This sudden philosophical question came unexpectedly for Zuikaku, and so she did what any preschooler would do when they're faced with a difficult question; throwing it back.

"What about you then? You danced with me, invited me to an amusement park, watched movies all night with me, and you even k..kisse... "

Yeah, totally not finishing that sentence.

"A...as I've said, that one was completely platonic." said Enterprise. Any outside observer but Zuikaku would find her words unconvincing. "And I don't think that we need any more conflict when we both have a bigger enemy to worry about."

"Then you could simply not being a jerk and acted professionally. We'd operate just as well, and we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place." Zuikaku looked deep into Enterprise's red eyes. "What do you think of me, E?"

Now it's Enterprise's turn to not being able to look at her conversation partner in the eyes. She looked down, once again hiding her face with her bang.

After a few seconds of soul-crushing silence, Zuikaku decided it's time to man up, even though she's a lady. "Very well then. I'll go first." Zuikaku gulped, swallowing her fear before continuing. "I think you're a great carrier. You've served your country with distinction, and although I think you sometimes used more force than necessary, as a fellow warrior I can fully understand why you did what you did. I..." Zuikaku paused, waiting for her brain to find the right words. She did not want to mess this up. "I respect you."

Zuikaku saw Enterprise biting her lower lip in response to her words, her eyes looking longingly out of the capsule's window and into the blue afternoon sky. Then, her eyes turned their gaze from the sky to Zuikaku, still keeping their longing expression.

"I think of you as a former worthy foe," Enterprise spoke out. "Who fought loyally and fiercely against a losing odd. I remember how you still insisted on troubling my forces even when your hangar was empty. You did not cower and hide like so many of our other foes, whether back then or anytime." Enterprise paused. "As a fellow soldier, I too respect you, Zuikaku, at least in some ways."

Another silence befell the two carriers, but this time it was different. The silence was not gloomy. Instead, there was silence because neither wanted to be the first to show her smile.

Zuikaku was the first one to break. She shamelessly showed Enterprise her wide grin, a genuine kind of smile where you could clearly see the honesty in the person's eyes.

"Thanks." said Zuikaku.

"Same to you." Enterprise returned, her smile made it as if she were trying to compete with Zuikaku.

Zuikaku nodded, accepting Enterprise's gratitude before she opened her mouth again. "Say, E. The things you've said, the burning, the killing, and the starving, have you ever regretted any of it?"

Enterprise once again tilted her head in a questioning manner, before she suddenly moved and took a seat right beside Zuikaku, driving the Japanese carrier into a surprised jolt.

Enterprise opened her mouth, and beyond Zuikaku's wildest expectation, she started singing.

 _Remember Pearl Harbor, when you sight down the barrel of your gun._  
 _Remember Pearl Harbor, never stop, 'til you drop_ every one _!_  
 _Give'em bomb for bomb, give'em shell for shell,_  
 _Kill a hundred rats for every boy that fell,_  
 _Remember Pearl Harbor, wipe the Jap from the map, give'em hell!_

After she had finished with her song, Enterprise looked at the stunned Zuikaku and smiled.

"No regret." Enterprise said, fully contented.

"Hundred of us for each one of you, huh?" Zuikaku finally said. "Pretty sure you had exceeded that quota by 1943."

"And you were returning the favor. It was not even, but it was certainly not for the lack of trying."

"You certainly did more damage to our people than we did yours..." Zuikaku said. Her nature as a war machine made her own words sting.

Enterprise turned her body, facing Zuikaku properly before offering her hand.

"We both have done horrible things to each other," said Enterprise, still waiting for Zuikaku to take her hand. "Let's do it right this time."

Zuikaku looked at enterprise's hand for a moment, before drawing her own hand and held Enterprise's hand in a firm grip.

"Friends." Zuikaku declared with full confidence.

"Right...friends." parroted Enterprise. Anyone but Zuikaku would've noticed Enterprise's slight tone of irritation at the word 'friends'. "By the way, how long will we be up here?"

"Huh?" Zuikaku realized that they were still literally hanging. "Well, Albacore-san said that she'll give us thirty minutes."

"We still have ten minutes." said Enterprise, checking the time on her phone. She then looked at Zuikaku, her expression suddenly turned mischievous.

"Say, Crane..."

Enterprise moved in her seat, inching closer to Zuikaku.

"...wanna do something fun?" 


	22. The ex-Battlecruiser

"From all the different skills that you could learn in your life, you chose two-person Old Maid?" asked Zuikaku as she walked along the corridor with a large box in her hands.

"Well, since I always carry a pack of cards just in case, I figured that I might as well acquire the skill to impress." said Enterprise, also carrying just as big a box as Zuikaku.

In the ten minutes it had taken for their Ferris wheel's capsule to reach the bottom, Enterprise had managed to beat Zuikaku five times, and as a bet, Zuikaku was forced by Enterprise to use the limited planes she could summon outside the base to give Albacore 'a good scare'. The sneaky submarine, unsurprisingly, escaped, and neither Zuikaku nor Enterprise had seen her ever since, although occasionally Zuikaku felt like she was being stalked.

"By the way, I should teach you about ASW after I get my planes back. We might not be as good as the British, but yours is just awful." said Enterprise in a blunt criticism that Zuikaku often found lacking in her own countrymen. "You know, for such a tiny country with limited resources, you sure had put disproportionate emphasis on your offensive capability. Great gun directors, great guns, great torpedoes, long-range planes, and generally aggressive tactics. But you also had terrible AA, terrible convoy protection, terrible ASW..."

"It's exactly because we had such limit that we cannot afford to engage in a protracted defensive war. Sooner or later we'd just get ground down. Our only hope was to make the war too expensive for the other side."

"Is that why your grand strategy back then involved waging war against one of the biggest industrial powers in the world?"

"Touché."

Enterprise and Zuikaku stopped when they reached a certain door in the corridor. After Enterprise gave it a good three knocks, the door immediately opened, revealing an ecstatic Kongo.

"So, how was it?" asked Kongo cheerfully to Enterprise.

"Well, at first I was skeptical looking at the villains. Good series are alway dependent on the villains, and the Daleks looked like sentient saltshakers, Cybermen looked like tin scarecrows and the Sontarans looked like Darth Vader's love children with a potato."

Kongo nodded. "A common first impression, aye."

"But by the point I heard the Akathen speech I was already pretty hooked. The main characters were generally great, but I think Eleventh was the greatest."

Kongo looked slightly offended. "Lass, I f I had a week I could list all that's wrong with that opinion."

"You two are such nerds, aren't you?" commented Zuikaku as she handed the box of DVDs to Kongo.

"Damn straight!" said Kongo smugly.

"And proud of it!" said Enterprise, raising her chest in pride. A very generous estimation said that she managed to increase her bustline by an inch.

"We're going to binge watch now. Wanna join us?" asked Kongo.

"I'll pass." said Zuikaku very quickly.

"Pity." said Enterprise. "I'll see you later then, Crane."

Enterprise and Zuikaku waved each other goodbye as Enterprise entered the room belonging to the Kongo sisters.

Zuikaku then walked towards the galley, having decided to fill her stomach while she arranged her schedule. However, her plan was interrupted by a certain light carrier walking into her path.

Ryuujo, or just RJ to her friends, was one of the most veteran and experienced ship in the fleet. While the Kido Butai was making the first strike against the American, the lonely Ryuujo was leading the Empire's expansion south to the East Indies, providing both ground support and air superiority. It was an experience she still remembered even when she had gained a human body.

"Zuikaku-san." called Ryuujou, audibly trying to play down her distinct accent and failing. "The admiral has asked for you in the summoning room."

"They have all the materials needed already?"

"Yes, and since we need more escort destroyers, the admiral said that some carriers in the summoning room would help."

It was discovered rather early that when you wanted to summon a specific Kanmusu, it helped to have another Kanmusu with a historical connection to said ship near the summoning circle. For example, Bismarck was summoned by having Prinz Eugen in the same room.

"Let's go, then." said Zuikaku, waiting for Ryuujo to lead the way.

The two carriers walked briskly out of the battleship dorm, through the courtyard, and into the production facility, a mostly underground building that had been dedicated to the creation and maintenance of Kanmusu equipment, including the summoning of a new ship.

Zuikaku and Ryuujou shuffled across the well-lit but very crowded workshop towards the door marked as 'LSC', avoiding noisy heavy machinery all the way. Ryuujo had a significantly easier time than Zuikaku leaping and ducking around the various equipment strewn across the floor due to her small size, a fact that anyone that knew the light carrier would go out of their way not to mention.

Finally, they went inside the summoning room. The room was divided into two parts. 'the upper bridge' was where all the computers and control systems were placed along the four walls, with technicians, engineers, and other experts manning their stations with remarkable, unbroken focus. All of the personnel were female, since so far it was impossible to summon a Kanmusu with a male nearby. Zuikaku had tried to understand the science behind it, but she soon discovered that she was more suited to bombing Abyssal than studying metaphysic. The only thing Zuikaku remembered learning from the head engineer was that 'A Yin aspect in an early stage of development would always be too fragile to make contact with a fully established Yang aspect', which to Zuikaku's ears the head engineer might as well had said 'shipgirl magic bullshit'. It was also the reason why the staff of Kanmusu bases were also mostly female, with males only being introduced recently. Zuikaku haven't yet heard about a Kanmusu exploding when she made a skin contact with a male, and she herself had worked with so many male personnel with no ill effects, so she guessed they were worried over nothing.

Other than the control systems, the upper deck was mostly dominated by a tomb-like steel tub in the middle of the room. It was filled to the brim with a thick white liquid that filled the room with the smell of chalk. Hoses and tubes of various sizes were connected to the bottom of the tub from the ceiling.

The 'lower deck' was located about three floors lower, observable from the bridge without any form of separation. It was where the initial summoning process would take place. It consisted of a big empty room with plain walls, floor, and a glass ceiling hiding a series of special lamps. On the white floor, a gigantic mandala and series of runes had been painstakingly painted on using some sort of rust colored substance.

"Admiral, we're here." announced Ryuujo.

"Good." said Admiral Goto, who was standing near a lab-coated woman in her late twenties. "Head Engineer Fukuda, can we start?"

"Yes," answered the woman. "Just stand on the edge, please, with the destroyer."

Zuikaku looked at the place the head engineer pointed at. She immediately spotted the brown haired, green eyed destroyer dressed in a royal purple dress standing so dangerously close to the edge of the bridge that a soft shove could send her falling three floors down to the lower deck.

"Good morning, Akigumo. Are we trying to summon yet another of your sisters?" asked Ryuujo as the two carriers approached the Kagerou-class destroyer.

"Yup." said the mangaka destroyer. "We're Japan's best design, after all."

Zuikaku took her place behind the two ships.

"Look at the mandala, please. Try to concentrate on it." asked Fukuda. Zuikaku responded by squinting her eyes at the drawing on the floor, while Akigumo pointed her thumb at it like a painter as if she was trying to make a copy of it on a canvas. Ryuujo stood still, her eyes refusing to blink.

"Right. let's begin. Turn on the ecto-lamps." commanded Fukuda. The glass ceiling of the lower deck immediately lit up in a calming green color, and as soon as the light touched the sigil on the floor, the runes burst into flames, creating a warm orange glow that somehow stayed frozen near the floor.

"Ma'am, we've caught something." said one of the engineers sitting in front of a screen. "ETA 90 seconds."

"Busters, get ready."

Zuikaku and the other ships suddenly found themselves surrounded on either side by two large, muscular women wearing gas masks and gray one-piece jumpsuits that made them looked like a pair of pest exterminators. They were also carrying what looked like overly high-tech flamethrowers, complete with the backpacks.

"Ladies, prepare your proton packs."

The 'Busters' pressed some buttons on their high-tech flamethrowers, and a whirling sound similar to those produced by high-voltage electrical cables could be heard.

"P.K.E. level is increasing!" said another engineer standing in front of another screen. "Ma'am, I think it's a capital ship!"

"Alright!" the admiral pumped her fist in the air like an overexcited child.

A bright light flashed, and when it subsided the floor of the lower deck was clean. There were no mandalas or runes or sigils, all signs that suggested that the floor used to be anything but pure white were completely gone. Replacing them was a single ball of sourceless white light floating about a meter below the ceiling.

"We've got ourselves a specter! Busters, open fire!"

The Busters immediately followed Fukuda's order with trained efficiency. They pointed their proton emitters at the specter and pulled the triggers.

Zuikaku and her fellow ships closed their eyes as streams of multicolored lightning emerged from the Busters' equipment and struck the ball of light square in the middle, filling Zuikaku's ears with the sound of electric shocks like those made by the roof connector of a bumper car. when they made contact with the specter, the stream of mostly orange and blue lightning curved and formed numerous circles, capturing the specter in a multilayered cage of plasma.

"DO NOT CROSS THE STREAMS! I REPEAT, DO NOT CROSS THE STREAMS!" shouted Fukuda urgently. "Quickly, get her to the containment!"

The Busters walked backward and pulled, dragging the specter with them until them until it was on top of the steel tub.

"SLAM IT!" Fukuda shouted, and the Busters slammed the specter into the tub with a great force, spraying Zuikaku, Akigumo, and Ryuujo with thick white liquid.

"Now, this is a good material." said Akigumo, smiling as she examined Ryuujo's face which was now covered in white cream-like substance.

"Don't even think about it." barked Ryuujo.

"Alright, well done girls! we've got her!" said Fukuda, wiping white fluid off her face. "Turn on the lasers!"

The laser emitters attached to a series of rails installed on the roof above the steel tub started humming, and soon visible lasers started bombarding the liquid in the tub. The liquid quickly started to bubble.

"The calcium composite is stable. The skeletal structure is forming." said another engineer. "She's pretty big. definitely a capital ship."

"Get ready with the protein substance. I want the nervous system and muscle tissues formed as soon as the bone hardened." commanded Fukuda.

"You know, the first time I heard about 3D printing was when I was twelve." said one of the Busters through her mask. "Never thought that it'd come to this."

The lasers kept firing for about twenty minutes, and in the process, the liquid gradually turned from white to brown, and finally settled when it reached a dark red color.

"Fill her with blood and shock her heart." said Fukuda, licking her lips like a predator. "Let's wake her up."

A series of syringes attached to numerous tubes descended from the ceiling and sank itself into the liquid. After a full minute, they were withdrawn. Following them were a pair of massive electrodes, crackling and active.

"Engage!" shouted Fukuda.

"Ten billion volts, Ma'am!"

The area around the tub lit up like a firework, making it impossible to see the tub directly. However, Fukuda's reaction gave Zuikaku's enough clue of what's currently happening.

"AHAHAHA!" Fukuda laughed as she examined a graph on a screen. "SHE'S ALIVE! SHE'S ALIVE!"

"Fukuda's at it again." whispered one of the engineers. "Someone please get her medication."

"I'll do it."

Another engineer discreetly rose from her seat and left the summoning room. Meanwhile, the electrodes started to slow down on pumping lightning into the new Kanmusu before finally stopping completely, leaving only the sound of bated breaths to fill the room.

After thirty seconds of anxiety, the new Kanmusu...sat.

At first, it was impossible to make out any feature of the new girl other than her humongous breasts since the otherwise naked girl was covered from head to toe by thick red goo, but then Zuikaku managed to catch a pair of emerald eyes looking straight at her.

...looking straight at her with hate.

"You!" the girl shouted in English, her voice filled with rage.

"Aw, shit. It's an American." said Akigumo.

"Alright, everybody calms down." said Zuikaku. This was why Kanmusu exchange program between nations, especially between former enemies, was so important. This kind of thing happened from time to time. "We just need to get an American to explain to her that..."

"AAAARRRRGH!"

Zuikaku's words were cut off by a shout. No, it wasn't a shout. It was a war cry. The girl jumped off from the tub, dripping red liquid onto the floor, and before anyone could stop her she was already charging at Zuikaku.

Zuikaku only managed to push her comrades away before the girl slammed into her with the force of a collapsing skyscraper, pushing her off the edge of the bridge and sending her on an express delivery to the lower deck three floors below.

"FFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-"

Zuikaku's curse was cut short as her back slammed against the concrete floor at the same time the new girl's elbow slammed against her sternum, forcing all air out of Zuikaku's lungs. Zuikaku gasped, only for her open mouth to be slammed by a naked foot.

Zuikaku rolled in pain on the floor, holding her wounded face. The new girl used this chance to deliver a kick to her side. Zuikaku could hear something cracking, and then she heard someone screaming. It took a while for Zuikaku to realize that she was hearing herself.

The girl swung her leg, ready for another kick. A desperate Zuikaku caught her foot just as it was going for her chest, but the girl put enough momentum on her kick to send Zuikaku flying, and she kept flying before she was forced to stop by a concrete wall on the other side of the room.

"...ugh."

Zuikaku coughed, spraying blood on the floor from her ruptured lung. She tried to stand up by leaning herself against the wall, but then she saw the new girl approaching. Zuikaku raised one arm, pleading.

"...w...wait."

The girl had no mercy. She slammed a foot flat against Zuikaku's chest, once again depriving her lungs of air. This time, however, the girl immediately followed through by grabbing Zuikaku at the neck, preventing her to refill her empty lungs.

"A...aah..."

The girl lifted Zuikaku by the throat and off the floor, leaving Zuikaku's legs dangling uselessly. The new girl was rather big, although judging by the fact that Zuikaku was still barely clinging to life, she was unlikely to be a battleship.

Zuikaku started to feel the reaper's embrace as her brain was deprived of oxygen, her blood flowing uselessly, carrying no nutritions from her now deflated lungs. Her hands, clawing meaninglessly against the girl's arms, were getting numb and weak. Fortunately, this near death experience served to bring Zuikaku to an epiphany, an epiphany that could've saved so many young Japanese lives in the second world war.

 _'Screw it, fair and honorable fight is for dead men.'_

Zuikaku stopped clawing at the girl's hands. Instead, she moved her own hands to the girl's torso. It took no time until they found the two massive lumps of fat that they were looking for.

Zuikaku sent all her remaining strength to her wrists and started twisting, digging her nails into the nipples.

The girl's eyes widened, if not in pain then in surprise brought by her newly acquired body. The girl's grip loosened, and the moment Zuikaku's feet reached the floor, she tightened her neck and gave the girl a solid headbutt right on her chin. The girl staggered backward, and Zuikaku used this chance to grit her teeth and slammed a right hook into the girl's temple, sending her onto the floor.

"GAH!"

Zuikaku staggered and gasped, refilling her lungs with precious air before going back into a fighting stance.

"Alright! You wanted a fight!?" Zuikaku screamed in rage, all desire to calm the new girl with words had evaporated, replaced by her desire to stay alive. "THEN LET'S HAVE ONE YOU BITCH!"

The girl stood up quickly, her eyes red with fury. She faced Zuikaku and entered her own fighting stance.

The two ships were about to throw down before a very special voice echoed around the room.

"HALT!" the voice sounded, and the two fighting ships looked up towards the edge of the upper bridge. They were greeted by the two red eyes of USS Enterprise, glaring down at the two of them with disgust.

The new girl tilted her head, her movement filled with melancholy.

"Six? is that you?" asked the girl slowly. Zuikaku could tell that the girl was almost bursting into tears right there and then.

Enterprise looked at the girl, and when she opened her mouth, her voice was full of malice and devoid of love.

 _"Sara."_


	23. Going Triangle?

Although it could do a terrible thing to the morale of her crew, Zuikaku sometimes enjoyed the hot weather of the central Pacific. It made flying operations a lot easier due to the good visibility and strong thermal streams, and in certain conditions, it also made the fleet somewhat safer since the Americans had started mastering the art of night combat, although they're not yet as good as the Japanese.

Zuikaku had heard that American carriers often let their sailors sunbathe on their decks. Such thing would likely never happened in her own, very strict navy, but Zuikaku liked to dream of how happy her crew would be if they were allowed to do so. Well, they had to make do with the occasional cooking contests and sports events held on the flight deck.

Still, sailing far away from the frontlines was a rare luxury for Zuikaku, a fleet carrier. It's one of the very rare occurrences when Zuikaku actually felt safe. She was feeling particularly safe on that day, having her sister Shoukaku and a considerable group of destroyers assigned to the same task force as her. Zuikaku looked to her port and saw Shoukaku smiling at her. Zuikaku smiled back.

Suddenly, she saw an object falling at high speed from above her sister, Zuikaku tried to shout, but for some reason, either horror or shock, her mouth was stuck, permanently locked in a smile that she had given to her dearest sister.

Zuikaku could only watch as the bomb pierced her sister's skull and exploded. There was not even a scream before the 1000 pounds of explosives ignited in Shoukaku's brain, blowing her head clean off her neck.

Zuikaku did not know what to do. She was frozen in grief as her sister's lifeless, headless body slumped onto the sea surface, painting it red. Her instinct, gained through years of intense training, quickly took over and she immediately commanded the destroyers to prepare for AA combat, but then she realized that her destroyers were gone. she was alone.

Then, as if the gods themselves had closed the gate of heaven, the sun dimmed until Zuikaku was enclosed in total darkness, so thick that Zuikaku felt like someone had drowned her in black ink. She felt the engines of her patrolling planes suddenly cut off, sending them careening into the sea in a perfect silence.

Zuikaku looked around, widening her eyes as far as possible as she looked for any recognizable landmark. She could only look at pitch darkness, her eyes and newly installed radar completely useless. Was this the work of a new enemy weapon? Zuikaku had heard a rumor that the Americans had created a weapon capable of harnessing the power of the sun. Was that why the sun dimmed? Were they currently loading said weapon, while aiming it at her people?

A pair of jade greenish circles broke through the darkness, threateningly close to Zuikaku. Zuikaku tried to pull up an arrow, only for her to realize that her quiver was empty.

In terror, Zuikaku realized that the greenish circles were eyes. They were quickly followed by the owner, a woman with reddish brown hair wearing a long white dress. Her entire visage was oddly bright, and surrounded by darkness, the woman was the only thing that Zuikaku's eyes could see.

The woman slowly approached Zuikaku, and Zuikaku could feel her keel froze. She tried to turn and run, or at least averting her eyes from the woman's hateful glare. But she found her body locked, unable to move no matter how hard she willed them to. She had become a prisoner in her own body.

"My name is Saratoga." said the woman, her voice filled with a supernatural grudge. "You've killed my sister. Prepare to die."

The woman pulled a long black knife and pointed it at Zuikaku's neck. She started walking forwards, slowly and with her arms straight. Zuikaku eyes were locked to the knife's point, following them as it got closer and closer until it disappeared outside of Zuikaku's field of vision and the woman's face was less than a meter away.

"Die." the woman whispered.

Zuikaku felt the cold tip of the obsidian knife slowly pressing against the skin of her neck, piercing it. Zuikaku tried to push her body away, but for some mysterious reason, she was incapable of moving even a single finger. She felt the knife cutting through the weak flesh around her windpipe, and the warmth of her own blood as they dripped down to her collar...

"WAAAAAHH!"

Zuikaku's eyes snapped open, and she was welcomed by the sight of the drydock's ceiling.

"...a nightmare..."

Zuikaku opened her eyes wide, afraid that she's going to go back to her nightmare if she dared to close them. She focused her sight at one spot of the ceiling, trying to calm herself as she could feel her heart beating painfully against her broken ribs.

"Are you okay?"

Zuikaku looked to her side and was immediately greeted by a pair of greenish eyes.

This time, however, Zuikaku's body wasn't frozen. She immediately jumped away, which immediately sent a jolt of excruciating pain throughout her damaged body.

"Hey, easy." calmed Saratoga, holding Zuikaku by the shoulder. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"I'm sorry if I don't immediately believe that." said Zuikaku in English.

Saratoga responded by moving her chair a few distance away from Zuikaku's bed. "It's alright, see? from here I can't even touch you."

Zuikaku looked judgingly at Saratoga, which Saratoga responded by smiling awkwardly.

"Sorry about your...uh...everything."

Zuikaku checked her own body and realized that she still couldn't move her torso as well as she would like to.

"Where's Akashi?"

"You mean the repair ship? she had left to make preparation for the repair of the uh...summoning room...?" Saratoga said in an unsure tone. "She had finished her examination, though."

Zuikaku licked her teeth and felt a gap where a tooth supposed to be.

"How bad is it? I fell asleep."

"Yeah, I noticed." said Saratoga. She lifted an arm in front of her face, and Zuikaku immediately noticed that someone had written a list on the carrier's pristine, newly formed skin in blue ink. "Five cracked ribs and a partially collapsed lung, plus a bruised windpipe." Saratoga listed. "Uh...at least you're still alive, right?"

"Haha." Zuikaku laughed sarcastically. "And at least I don't have a mad naked woman barbarically trying to kill me with her breasts pendulously dangling like a stung cow."

Saratoga appeared to have suddenly found the floor tiles really interesting.

"I was confused, alright? I was pulled out of the afterlife, it was a rather disorienting experience." said Saratoga, sounding extremely guilty. "Six...I mean Enterprise had explained everything. She was quite upset that I put you in the...uh...repair place?"

"Drydock."

"Right, uh..." Saratoga nervously scratched the back of her ear, while still refusing to make a direct eye contact with Zuikaku. "Anyway, I'm really sorry. If only I had known..."

"You wouldn't have mauled me like a bear?"

"Uh..."

"Stepped on me like a carpet?"

"Actually..."

"Rushed me like an elephant? Choke me like a python? Break my bones like a charging bull? dropped me three floors down into a hard concrete surface like a collapsing skyscraper?"

"...please stop..."

By the end of Zuikaku's rant, Saratoga was looking very miserable, ensuring Zuikaku that her apology was genuine.

"We'll as long as you understand." Zuikaku said as she offered her hand. "You're not going to try to kill me again, right?"

"Yes! I mean, no! I mean-" Saratoga stuttered.

Zuikaku sighed. "Just grab the hand, why don't you?"

Saratoga looked at Zuikaku's hand quizzically before she remembered that she also had two of her own. She hesitantly grabbed Zuikaku's hand, not even shaking it. Honestly, it looked more like Saratoga was about to put a ring on Zuikaku's finger than a simple handshake.

"Well, that's dealt with." declared Zuikaku.

"Uhh...actually, there's one more thing." said Saratoga, reaching under her chair. Up until then, Zuikaku hadn't noticed the small bag tucked neatly under Saratoga's seat.

"I made this. You know, trying to get used to my new limbs and such." said Saratoga as she pulled a medium sized plastic box from the bag. "To be honest I wasn't even sure If I'd manage to give this to you. Fortunately, our conversation went better than I've expected."

"What did you expect?"

"Stealthy dive bombers." said saratoga as she put the plastic box on Zuikaku's lap. Zuikaku opened it, and her sense of smell immediately got warmly assaulted by a maddeningly delicious aroma.

"What's this?" said Zuikaku, clearly amazed.

"A bed of white rice blanketed by a sheet of wilted spinach, topped with pieces of roasted, grass-fed beef, cooked well-done in citrus."

Zuikaku couldn't even comprehend what Saratoga had  
just said. She was too busy looking for utensils so she could immediately dig into the godly looking offering in front of her. But she couldn't even ask for chopsticks because if she opened her mouth, her saliva might come out.

"Here you go." said Saratoga, offering a plastic spoon.

Zuikaku quickly reached to grab the spoon, but a wave of pain from her ribs made her dropped it. The spoon fell silently on Zuikaku's bed. Zuikaku tried to grab it, but Saratoga was faster.

"Dirty." judged Saratoga as she dropped the spoon back into her bag. She pulled another plastic spoon, but this time she didn't offer it to Zuikaku.

"Here, let me." said Saratoga, taking the plastic box back from Zuikaku's lap.

"I couldn't..."

"Shush."

Saratoga dug the spoon into the rice and offered a mouthful of food to Zuikaku, dangling it in front of her face.

"Now, aaaahhh..."

"I..."

Zuikaku hesitated, but she knew that if she continued to try to eat by herself the delicious food would only be wasted on the floor, and as a Japanese Kanmusu Zuikaku knew not to waste food.

"Ahmph." Zuikaku's mouth took the food, and it was just as delicious as it looked.

"Good?"

"Ehmph. ith amazhing."

Saratoga took out another spoonful of food.

"If your body is anything like a normal human, then these should help you recover." said Saratoga. "The spinach is high in calcium and vitamin K, the citrus is for vitamin C, and I've made sure that the beef contained lean protein and zinc to help you regrow your bones. I've also prepared some milk for you to drink after this."

"You sure know your stuff, huh?" commented Zuikaku as she bit into her food, careful to avoid using her damaged or missing tooth.

"A good cook is the most important crewmember, after all." Saratoga smiled. A motherly, protective smile that Zuikaku couldn't believe belonged to the same person that had tried to kill her just yesterday.

"You'd make a great mother someday." said Zuikaku, completely thoughtlessly.

Saratoga blushed slightly, but of course, Zuikaku missed this.

"Thanks."

Saratoga's plastic box was almost half empty when the door opened and Enterprise barged in.

"Hey, Crane!" Enterprise said cheerfully. "I'm sorry that you got thrashed, so I'm bringing you something that'd cheer...you...up..." Enterprise's words slowed down as she realized that she wasn't the only one that fancied visiting the wounded crane.

"Oh." uttered Enterprise when she saw Saratoga's box. "You're already having lunch."

"We made up faster than we had any right to be." said Saratoga. "Fortunately."

"Saratoga is a great cook!" announced Zuikaku. "What are you carrying, by the way?"

"Oh, this?" Enterprise gestured at the plastic bag she's carrying. "Just a convenience store bento. I thought you'd be hungry at this hour. But since you're probably already full, I'm just going to leave this here, maybe you could have it for dinner...or something."

Enterprise put her plastic bag on a bed two beds away from Zuikaku's before nonchalantly turning back towards the door.

"You're not staying?" asked Zuikaku.

"I'm...I'm a bit busy!" Enterprise said, maybe a bit too loudly as she dashed past the door. "I'm sorry!" The door slammed with a loud thud that echoed in the room for a while after Enterprise had disappeared.

"That's odd." said Zuikaku.

"Hmm?"

"There's no convenience store in two kilometers radius from here."

"Hmm..."

Saratoga stood up, and started walking towards the plastic bag Enterprise had left. She opened it and checked the content.

"These are homemade food." said Saratoga.

"what?"

"Yeah. the ingredients are just too fresh and at too high grade for anything packaged. Though whoever made them clearly only had a mediocre skill, at best."

"I...see..." said Zuikaku, realization slowly creeping into her.

"Still, I can tell from the arrangement that it was made with great care, at least for the person who's going to eat it. I wonder why Six would lie about this."

Zuikaku cupped her face in her hand.

"I am an idiot."

* * *

 **A/N: Now, who fancies being the hundredth reviewer?**


	24. The Ladykiller's Square Problem

Six hours after the whole awkwardness with Enterprise and Saratoga, Zuikaku was on her sick bed, covered in a thick jacket with a glass of hot chocolate by her side while reading a book titled 'Her Majesty's Dragon'. It was a part of the 'Temeraire' series that Enterprise had lent Zuikaku at the night after Albacore's hijinks.

Zuikaku had concluded that returning the books would make for a good excuse to start a conversation with Enterprise, and then she could probably apologize, somehow. Still, she first had to finish the books. All nine of them.

Well, it's not like she could do much with cracked ribs.

The eponymous dragon had just hatched when the door of the room opened and a white-haired woman entered. For a moment Zuikaku thought that her sister had come to visit, but then she remembered that her sister was probably off the coast of Hokkaido at the time, covering the final approach of the pan-pacific convoys. She probably didn't even know yet about Zuikaku's injury. Plus, her sister was the very model of a Japanese woman, with a slender body that could perfectly fit into a kimono. She certainly didn't have the buxom to break even the most resilient of fabrics.

The carrier Unryuu was wearing her civilian outfit, most notably the black shirt that was clearly a few sizes too big for her, except when it came to the chest area. about a third of the buttons stayed unused, probably because it was impossible for them to cover the distance of the valley created between Unryuu's twin peaks. The open cleavage clearly showed her pearly white chest, since a single custom-made bra would immediately eat up half of her salary and Unryuu would often choose to go bra-less when she's in the base.

However, more notable than the name carrier's high amount of feminity was the other carrier that she was carrying on her back. Zuikaku immediately recognized the girl.

"Is Katsuragi out again?"

"Yes." answered Unryuu. "I'm sorry, Zuikaku-san, I know you're currently recuperating, but could you keep an eye on her? I need to give my report to the admiral."

"No problem." Zuikaku gave a thumb up. Unryuu let out a sigh of relief, making her chest bounced noticeably as she gently placed her sister Katsuragi on the bed right beside Zuikaku's. "Thank you." Unryuu said, then she gave Zuikaku a nod and a smile before leaving through the door. Zuikaku cringed when Unryuu's breasts accidentally banged against the doorframe.

"Anytime. Ouch."

Zuikaku put down her book and switched her attention to the currently comatose Katsuragi. Her face was really pale, just as Zuikaku had seen her so many times before. It was almost like somebody had drained all the blood from inside her.

Katsuragi was THE last carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy, and it showed even in her human body. The desperation, the corner-cutting, the 'everything goes' mentality, it all served to hinder Katsuragi from functioning normally outside of her rigging. in her rigging, she's generally fine and very combat-capable, if a bit slow, but outside her rigging her body was quite...inadequate.

Her powerplant was a great example. Every Kanmusu summoning was unique, but every part of a Kanmusu body would always represent an aspect of her steel self. In Katsuragi's case, the destroyer sized powerplant that was installed in her out of sheer necessity, which gave her just above 100 thousand shaft horsepower instead of her sister's more reasonable 140 thousand, translated to an organic heart that's about a third smaller than it's supposed to. She had the body a teenager, but a heart the size of a small child's.

This understandably gave Katsuragi a lot of health complications, most notably the bouts of acute asthma and/or anemia. Katsuragi's 'assets' were also noticeably lighter that her two sisters, thought Zuikaku was not sure what ship aspect that represented.

Zuikaku noticed that Katsuragi was shivering. apparently, her short sleeved pink shirt and jeans weren't good enough to block out the cold. Zuikaku rose from her bed, grimaced as her ribs protested, and reached for the blanket folded at the foot of Katsuragi's bed. She unfolded it and carefully pulled it up to Katsuragi's shoulder. But it happened that she wasn't careful enough.

"Uh...Zuikaku-senpai..?" Katsuragi greeted groggily.

"Evening." Zuikaku whispered.

Katsuragi's eyes suddenly widened as she realized where she was, and she tried to jump out of the bed before being stopped by Zuikaku.

"Calm down, alright? just rest."

Katsuragi hesitated, but she finally gave way as Zuikaku pushed her back onto her bed.

"I'm sorry..." uttered Katsuragi.

"It's alright."

Katsuragi looked around, seemingly searching for something.

"Where's my sister?"

"She's with the admiral."

"I...I see."

Katsuragi slumped into her bed with a defeated look on her face.

"I'm so useless, aren't I? Collapsing like that?"

"Of course not. Anyone with your condition would be the same. You just can't help it."

"You're too kind, senpai." Katsuragi chuckled, very weakly. "Next you'll be bringing me a cup of hot chocolate and singing me a lullaby."

Captured in the flow, Zuikaku grabbed her own glass of hot chocolate and gave it to Katsuragi.

"Ah..." Katsuragi received the glass with a mixture of gratitude and surprise.

"Now, what song would you like me to sing, my princess?"

"P...princess..? it wha...wasn't..." Katsuragi minced her words as she desperately tried to recover her scattered thought. "it wasn't necessary..!"

Katsuragi tried to shout, but her words were blocked by her anemic lungs and she started to cough violently instead.

Zuikaku quickly removed the hot chocolate before the hot liquid could spill all over Katsuragi. She then patted Katsuragi's chest, trying to help to stop her cough reflex.

When Katsuragi stopped coughing, she saw Zuikaku's hand on her chest and immediately started blushing.

"Hmm...your face is already starting to redden. You're recovering rather quickly. Hot chocolate is really amazing, isn't it?"

"y...yes! Hot chocolate, definitely!"

Katsuragi's eyes closely followed the glass of hot chocolate as Zuikaku put it back on her bedside table.

"W...senpai, was that your glass?"

"Yup."

"ah..."

"I haven't drunk anything from it, if you're worried about that sort of thing."

"Oh."

Katsuragi looked down, looking oddly disappointed.

"Now, just go back to sleep alright? I'll wake you up if your sister comes."

"Uhm...Okay."

Katsuragi lied down and pulled her blanket all the way until it covered her mouth.

"Would you like me to turn off the light?"

Katsuragi noticed the book lying on Zuikaku's bed.

"No, I'm okay."

"Alright then."

Zuikaku went back to her bed and resumed her reading. After a few seconds of silence, she heard Katsuragi's voice, muffled from the blanket in front of her mouth.

"Senpai?"

"Yes?"

"You think I will ever be strong enough to fight beside you?"

Zuikaku tilted her head. She found that question very odd.

"Of course. We just need to get your crew trained up and ready. Why are you even asking this, anyway?"

"Because..." Katsuragi averted her eyes. "Because I am a war machine that has never been to war. My design was...is fundamentally flawed and unproven, and I had never even carried a single plane before they gave me a pair of hands. I..."

Zuikaku immediately caught what Katsuragi was on about, and shifted her position to face Katsuragi directly, sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Look, Katsuragi, 'never been to war' is not a trait that you should be ashamed of."

Katsuragi was still not looking Zuikaku in the eyes by the time she gave her response.

"But...you were fighting for our people while I sat in construction, only went to sea to bring back the remnant of a defeated people." said Katsuragi, her voice trembling. "I was built carrying the hope of victory, only to be the symbol of our defeat."

Zuikaku sighed. She was never one to give pep talks.

"Katsuragi, those 'defeated people' you're talking about. Do you think they were truly defeated?"

"Huh?"

"When they came back and saw their homes destroyed, do you think they just gave up? did they sat and waited for death to claim them?"

"I don't..."

"No. They worked. They worked and built from the ashes of our destruction a country that we can once again be proud of. Their sons and daughters are now walking our streets, still building."

"But.."

Zuikaku stepped forward and kneeled at Katsuragi's bedside.

"Honestly, girl. How many men and women in Japan today do you think could say, 'my great grandfather was aboard the Katsuragi'? A hundred? a thousand? a hundred thousand?"

Zuikaku put her hand on top of Katsuragi's head and rubbed it gently.

"Japan owed its future to you, and I'm grateful that you're here, with me."

As Zuikaku spoke, Katsuragi's face brightened slowly. Finally, she directed her eyes to Zuikaku and smiled.

"Thanks, senpai."

"You're welcome." Zuikaku smiled back. "Also, you're not a fundamentally flawed design. Kaga and Akagi WERE fundamentally flawed designs, but their performances were stellar anyway, while I..." Zuikaku swallowed her spit, along with her pride. "By 1942 I was the most advanced carrier in our navy, yet I spent my days running away from American carriers as my complement of inexperienced pilots slowly got ground away. I will not have you go through a similar fate."

Zuikaku slipped her hand under Katsuragi's blanket and find Katsuragis's hand, making the younger carrier's body jolted slightly in surprise.

"Katsuragi, I will not let you sail half-prepared. Until your crew are ready and your pilots are skilled enough to keep you safe, I will not let you come to harm." Zuikaku tightened her grip on Katsuragi's hand. "I will protect you."

Color violently returned to Katsuragi's face as she once again averted her eyes from Zuikaku.

"Okay..." Katsuragi whispered shyly. "I'll do my best."

"That's the spirit!" Zuikaku withdrew her hands, giving Katsuragi's body a good pat over her blanket along the way. "Now, just go to sleep, alright? I'll be right beside you."

Zuikaku returned once again to her bed, not realizing that Katsuragi was staring blankly at her.

"I...you're going to sleep beside me?"

"Sure." answered Zuikaku as she covered herself in her own blanket. "Not going to leave you. Promise."

"Ah." Katsuragi whispered, inaudible to Zuikaku. "I'm sleeping together with senpai..."

Meanwhile, standing in the corner of the room and surrounded by darkness, a certain submarine was rubbing her chin.

"Goddam."


	25. Into the Pentagon

Zuikaku was somewhat amused by the fact that Australia wouldn't actually become more dangerous of a place if dragons were to be suddenly introduced into the local fauna.

Zuikaku closed the sixth book of the series that Enterprise had lent her, the one titled 'Tongues of Serpents', where the two protagonists were pretty much exiled to Australia. Zuikaku had never actually been to Australia, the closest she'd been was when she fought Enterprise's and Saratoga's older sisters at the battle of the Coral Sea. But the things she had heard from the few army personnel that'd visited her naval base back then made Zuikaku wonder why anyone would want to move there.

At least from the perspective of the Imperial Japanese Army, Australia as a continent was entirely occupied by a horde of rampaging cannibal warriors that saw the Japanese race as a delicacy. Australia was the place the gods used to design the creatures that would fill the deepest bowel of hell. The land was dry and cracked that nothing could grow on it. Their most valued national wonder was just a really big rock.

Well, at least that's what Zuikaku had heard.

"You've ever been to Australia, Hatsuzuki?" Zuikaku asked the AA destroyer sitting on a stool at her bedside with a plate of peeled apple pieces on her lap.

"No, ma'am, I've never been to Australia."

"Musashi got assigned there, wasn't she? maybe I should give her a-"

Zuikaku words stopped when Hatsuzuki offered her fork, forcing Zuikaku's mouth to occupy itself chewing a freshly peeled apple piece.

"Is it good?"

Zuikaku swallowed. "Mph. it's great. it's Fuji apple, right?"

"It is." answered Hatsuzuki while staring at Zuikaku. For anyone else, the destroyer would look like as if she's only utilizing her normal stoic facade, but Zuikaku had been working with Hatsuzuki for long enough time to recognize the faint hint of anger in her eyes.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Realizing that Zuikaku had noticed her anger, Hatsuzuki averted her eyes. "It's nothing."

"Come on, we've known each other for long enough. You can tell me." Zuikaku smiled while trying to sound encouraging.

Hatsuzuki looked back at Zuikaku, now not even trying to hide her true feeling. Her normally big round eyes narrowed while her eyebrows curved downwards, and Zuikaku suddenly found herself being stared at by a pair of rather dangerous looking eyes. "With all due respect, ma'am, it is exactly because we've known each other for so long that I am feeling quite disturbed by your condition right now."

Zuikaku raised her brows, confused.

"And what do you mean by that?"

Hatsuzuki put her plate on Zuikaku's bedside table.

"That means I hate seeing you get hurt," said Hatsuzuki, her expression suddenly changed to that of a strict mother berating her careless child. "Ma'am."

"But I'm fine, see?" Zuikaku banged her fist onto her ribs, the one that used to be cracked. "I'm recovering greatly. it wasn't as bad as it looked."

Hatsuzuki's eyes twitched. "Still, don't you think that you're being a little too lenient to the person who gave you that injury?"

"You mean Sara? It wasn't her fault. She was just traumatized by the summoning process, like many of us."

"Hmph." Hatsuzuki didn't look too impressed by Zuikaku's excuse for the American carrier. "Then what about that mass murderer? the one you've been so friendly with? Aren't you worried that she's also going to suddenly go mad and attack you?"

Zuikaku barely managed to follow Hatsuzuki's words.

"Mass murderer...? what are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, ma'am." said Hatsuzuki, with disdain clearly audible in her voice. "I'm talking about that blonde...thing."

When Zuikaku finally caught what Hatsuzuki was talking about, she shook her head in disappointment.

"Oh, not you too, Hatsuzuki." Zuikaku ground her knuckles on her temple, frustration rising in her. "Enterprise is my friend. The Americans ARE our friends."

Zuikaku watched as anger once again rose on the destroyer's face. Weirdly enough, this time it was also accompanied by the sight of tears welling up in the corner of her eyes. Hatsuzuki's face reddened and her teeth were gritting, almost as if she was not sure whether to shout in rage or started sobbing.

"Ma...ma'am." Hatsuzuki stuttered, trying to hold back her tears. "I've watched you BURN."

Zuikaku's mind suddenly went back to her memory of slowly dying after countless American bombs penetrated her deck. She quickly and violently shook her head, trying to force her consciousness away from that memory.

"You just remembered, didn't you?" asked Hatsuzuki suddenly to the unprepared Zuikaku, who quickly denied it.

"I...I don't know what you're talking about."

Hatsuzuki stood up and before Zuikaku could say anything, she was already sitting on her bed, clearly invading Zuikaku's personal space.

"Ma'am," Hatsuzuki began, her lips curled into a melancholic smile. "in the short moment between your death and my own, I was carrying 17 of your crew members."

Zuikaku bit her tongue, wondering why her friend would force her to remember her own death.

"Those seventeen people. I remember them. Their memories, their fear, their loss, their relief. I could feel all of them. I could feel you, ma'am." Hatsuzuki slowly blinked, letting her tears overflowed. "You were afraid, weren't you?"

Now it's Zuikaku's turn to avert her eyes. She tried to find an answer to deny the destroyer's claim, but then she realized that there was nothing to deny. Hatsuzuki was absolutely right.

Zuikaku was indeed afraid back then. The Americans were truly monsters for her. An unstoppable force that sought to kill Zuikaku and her comrades, and there was nothing they could do except to wait for the onslaught. They were simply too weak, or their enemy was too strong. Either way, Zuikaku knew that she's going to die sooner or later, but a small part of her still hoped for survival. When the Americans came for her, she wasn't yet ready for death. She squirmed and struggled, begging and praying for her life. It took painful hours for her to actually sank even after multiple ordnance had violently pierced her and she was leaking oil and corpses out of her hull.

"The terror your men had faced, I didn't want for them to go through it twice, so I sent them off in a little boat before I...I went and made my last stand."

Zuikaku had heard about Hatsuzuki's last stand. She was alone, fighting for two hours against 4 American cruisers and 9 destroyers, all to protect the other destroyers carrying Zuikaku's last surviving crew as they retreated to safety.

Hatsuzuki's tears reached her chin, and a single drop fell on Zuikaku's bedsheet with a soft thud.

Hatsuzuki touched her cheek, seemingly just realizing that she's been crying all this time. She quickly and nervously tried to wipe her tears, but they kept flowing faster than Hatsuzuki could wipe them.

"I...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." Hatsuzuki sobbed. "I just don't want to see you get hurt..."

By that point, Zuikaku's brain was already quite confused, and the sight of a small girl crying in front of her while trying to act like her protective knight just added more to Zuikaku's confusion. Still, Zuikaku realized that she had to say something if she didn't want to have yet another moment of extended awkwardness so soon after Enterprise's.

Zuikaku grabbed two sheets of tissue from a box on her bedside table and started to slowly wipe the tears off Hatsuzuki's face. Hatsuzuki paused her movement when she realized what Zuikaku was doing, but then she lowered her arms, letting Zuikaku's hand worked freely.

"I'm sorry..." Hatsuzuki sniffled.

"It's okay, it's okay." calmed Zuikaku, trying to sound as mature and parental as possible. "You're a good girl."

Hatsuzuki laughed, which was a thing a human body would naturally do to relieve excess stress, even if there's no actual reason to laugh.

Zuikaku finished wiping Hatsuzuki's face. Her eyes were still somewhat wet, but at least they were no longer flooding.

"Look." Zuikaku started. "I know you're worried about me, but I'm absolutely fine, alright?"

For emphasis, Zuikaku slammed a single closed fist onto her chest, making an audible thumping sound.

"But..." Hatsuzuki was about to protest when Zuikaku raised her hand.

"Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that you have such a strong desire to keep me safe, but I don't need you to beat yourself over it."

Zuikaku gently put her fingers on Hatsuzuki's chin, and she could feel the destroyer's body tightened under her touch. "Ah..."

"Look at you." Zuikaku said in a mellow tone. "I can't have my knight looking so scruffy, can I?"

Hatsuzuki's mouth shook, silently opening and closing as she tried to find the right words to response. "K...knight?"

"Yes! You're my best escort, and that wouldn't change no matter how many Americans are in our base." Zuikaku moved her hand down and onto Hatsuzuki's hand. "As long as you're with me, I am confident that I will be able to withstand anything the Abyss can throw at me. This time, I will not die and leave you to suffer alone."

Hatsuzuki froze up for a moment, but she finally opened her mouth and uttered a word with a barely audible voice.

"P...promise?"

Hatsuzuki slowly removed her hand from Zuikaku's grip and raised it slightly upwards, with her little finger extended. Zuikaku quickly understood what the destroyer was trying to do and chuckled.

A pinky promise? how cute. Zuikaku could do better.

Zuikaku softly took Hatsuzuki's hand into her own, and gently forced her little finger down while at the same time extending Hatsuzuki's index finger.

"Read my lips." said Zuikaku as she pulled Hatsuzuki's index finger onto her mouth. The destroyer noticeably shivered in shock as her finger touched Zuikaku's lips. Then, Zuikaku started moving her mouth, while making sure that her lips kept contacting Hatsuzuki's finger as she spoke.

"I will always be by your side."

"W...wha..."

It took a few seconds after Zuikaku's soft lips stopped grinding against her finger for Hatsuzuki's brain to recognize what exactly had just happened. When she finally realized it, however, the result was quite extreme. Her face quickly went red in what must be a record time, and before Zuikaku could stop her, or even said a single word, she forcefully pulled her hand out of Zuikaku's grip and ran towards the door.

Zuikaku was suddenly left alone in the room, confused, watching the still swinging door.

Except, she wasn't exactly alone.

"Alright, you definitely did that on purpose. There's no way you didn't. Nobody can be that much of a natural."

Zuikaku looked around, and seemingly out of nowhere USS Albacore spawned at her bedside.

"M'lady, that was the first time I've seen you made a maiden cry." Albacore sighed. "But my gut feeling is telling me that it probably wouldn't be the last."

* * *

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 **A/N: So you might've noticed that I've been releasing chapters quite fast lately. Unfortunately, that's because life has given me a great amount of free time alongside a great amount of stress and uncertainty. Writing this story is actually helping me relax.**

 **But I think I'm going to try to slow down a bit. Take my time. I'm starting to get writer's block anyway.**

 **cheers, and sorry.**

 **PS: Like many of you probably know already, I picked my name after a one of the fastest cutter in the age of sail, the one that Scrooge McDuck used to surf the Krakatoa explosion. Today I found out that it's also the name of the 18-century equivalent of sexy lingerie. So there's that.**


	26. Zuikaku VS Enterprise

Zuikaku had never been that nervous knocking at someone's door before.

"Coming!"

To Zuikaku's dismay, that wasn't Enterprise's voice answering. The door opened, and Zuikaku was suddenly faced with the towering figure of the USS Iowa.

"Oh? Zuikaku-san? what are you doing here?"

Zuikaku gave a warm smile, trying to hide her disappointment.

"I can say the same to you, ma'am. May I know what you're doing in the CV dorm?" asked Zuikaku politely.

"Well, E had just suddenly asked me how to cook a steak."

"Ah. I see." Iowa might not look the part, but she was actually very good at cooking meat. Zuikaku had tried eating her barbecue once, It was quite magnificent and it wasn't even a good quality meat. She's also very good at preparing corn-based food.

"For some reason, she was asking me how to make it palatable to a Japanese tongue. maybe she wants to treat someone from your side?"

Zuikaku looked to the side awkwardly. "That's a possibility."

"Hey, I noticed that aside glance. Do you know something that I don't?"

"It's not that important, really." Zuikaku shook her head. "Now, is Enterprise in? I need to return something of hers."

"Unfortunately, she isn't. But that's a lot of books." said Iowa, noticing the stack of books Zuikaku was carrying. "Let me take that."

Well, so much for using the books to start a conversation.

"Thanks. Do you know where she is?" Zuikaku asked as Iowa's supple, muscular hands took Enterprise's books from her.

"We were barely gone through the recipe when Akashi came here and told E that her planes were ready. So I guess she'll be in the workshop now."

"Thanks." said Zuikaku, already walking away from the door.

"Oi, turkey."

"Yes?" at first, Zuikaku had found that name somewhat irritating, but by this point, so many people had called her by that name that she had got used to it.

"Has something happened? You look pretty eager to meet her."

"I am?" Zuikaku awkwardly checked her face with her hand.

"Actually It's a weird mix of 'being called to the principal office' and 'it's Christmas' look, but you get my meaning."

"It's nothing. This is just my face." Zuikaku lied.

"Really? I hadn't noticed." Iowa cutely put a finger on her chin in an inquisitive manner, then shrugged. "Ah, doesn't matter. Good luck to you, whatever you're trying to do."

Zuikaku nodded. "Thanks. Again."

The two capital ships waved each other goodbye before Zuikaku made her way to Akashi's workshop.

"So. Corsairs." Zuikaku could hear Akashi talking even before she was through the door. "Building their engines was a massive pain, even with the design your government had provided. The reverse gull wings were also quite the challenge, and we barely had enough materials to make the flexible self-sealing fuel tanks. Also, what's the deal with all these armor? Engine cage, backplate, bulletproof glass. I swear your pilots are spoiled."

"Excuse me if unlike you guys we actually valued the lives of our skilled personnel."

"And their experience." said Zuikaku as she entered the room. "The only reason American top aces generally had fewer kill count than their Japanese counterpart was that they constantly rolled their best pilots out of the frontline and into the flying school." Zuikaku paused when Enterprise noticed her presence. "Right, E?"

"E..exactly." stammered Enterprise.

"Ah, Zuikaku." Zuikaku looked behind her and realized that her admiral was sitting behind the door, reading a magazine titled 'Badass Weekly: The SoDak's Wrath!'. If Zuikaku wasn't mistaken, it was an American propaganda magazine. The cover's showing a full body shot of an American mid-war battleship, standing in some sort of action pose. "This is convenient."

"And why is that, ma'am?"

"I was about to look for another carrier to help Enterprise with her test run, and now you're here."

"Test run?"

"Nothing major, just some minor fly-bys." said Akashi.

"Exactly, all you need to do..."

"If I may suggest?"

"...Holy shit!"

The stealthy submarine Albacore had somehow apparated right behind the admiral's chair and whispered her words straight into her ear, making the old human jumped. Albacore chuckled slightly, having judged the admiral's reaction amusing.

"Please don't do that." said the admiral from the floor.

"My apologize. It's just in my nature."

"What, being a Halloween spook all year?" the admiral dusted herself.

"I like to think of myself as the main character of a horror movie, actually."

"You're a bit too cheerful for that," Enterprise waved. "Hi, Al."

"Hey, I can be scary if I wanted to, alright? Now, about my idea..."

Zuikaku felt her doom approaching. "Please don't say anything."

Albacore ignored the Japanese carrier. "Why don't we make this somewhat more fun? Let's make ourselves a little competition."

"Continue." the admiral spoke, clearly intrigued.

"If one of them wins, the other must do as the winner says."

"Classic." Akashi nodded. "I approve."

"Well, I don't." said Zuikaku. "and I'm sure Enterprise will also object. Right?"

On the contrary, Enterprise shook her head. "I'm fine with it. I trust her. She's not going to ask me to do anything weird."

anything...

Zuikaku suddenly felt her face heating up.

"Oh? what's with that expression?" Enterprise gave Zuikaku a mischievous grin. "Are you going to ask me to do something weird, Crane?"

"That's right, girl. Pick up your game. God knows you need to." Albacore whispered, just a bit too audibly.

"What's that?" asked Enterprise.

"Nothing." Albacore lied.

"You guys do realize I currently only have inter-war designs with me, right? Zeros and the like? You actually expect me to fight against Corsairs and Avengers?"

"Don't forget the Dauntlesses." said Akashi. "Never ignore the Dauntlesses."

Enterprise sneered. "Oh, has the turkey decided to become a chicken?"

"If we let the rest of the base watch, this might be good for morale." said the admiral. "Which make this a tactical decision. Do it. It's an order."

"Now you're going to involve spectators? This is a misuse of authority."

"What can I say? I'm a bastard." said the admiral playfully.

Zuikaku rubbed her temple. Realizing that there's no way out with multiple people hounding at her, she finally capitulated.

"Fine. I'll do it."

"Good." The admiral clapped her hands once. "I'll spread the invitations. Akashi, you prepare the camera drones."

"Aye-aye, admiral!" Akashi gave a salute.

"You two go prepare. Be on the waterways in ten."

"Yes, ma'am." the two carriers said together.

Akashi and the admiral then left, and Albacore was suddenly nowhere to be seen, leaving Enterprise and Zuikaku alone in the room.

"Alright, Crane. Let's get rigged up, and you better be ready for a beatdown." said Enterprise, her enthusiasm made Zuikaku somewhat worried. Then she remembered why she was looking for Enterprise in the first place.

"It was good, by the way." said Zuikaku out of the blue.

"What? the beatdown? Don't worry, I'm not going to try to actually sink you this time." Enterprise ended her words with a playful wink.

"No. I mean your food."

Enterprise's body tightened, and she looked at Zuikaku with the expression of a wild animal about to be rolled over by a truck.

"I..it's just something I bought..." Enterprise said awkwardly, looking at her shoes.

"You're not very good at lying, are you?"

Enterprise's eyes glanced up slowly, and then away to the side when she accidentally made an eye contact with Zuikaku. "I usually have the admirals do all the deceptions for me..." Enterprise admitted.

"Well, repeating myself, it was a good food. thanks."

"But Saratoga's was better, right? I know she's a good cook."

"Of course, hers was world class."

Enterprise's eyes went back to the floor.

"But yours had a lot of homely charm to it." Zuikaku smiled.

"So you're saying it's boring." Enterprise accused.

"No, what I'm saying is that I wouldn't mind eating it every day."

"Every..." Enterprise paused, letting Zuikaku's words bounce around in her her head. "Le...let's just go."

Enterprise sprinted through the door, and then Zuikaku heard a muffled voice from the shadow.

"Oh, nice counter attack."

Making a long story short, Zuikaku and Enterprise got themselves rigged up, and in barely twenty minutes they were already on the sea, quite a distance away from the shore of their base.

"Alright, girls! So these are the rules." said Katori the training cruiser, floating between Zuikaku and Enterprise. Her white military dress uniform and folded ponytail looked as prim as ever even as the morning breeze started to kick off. "In your hand now is a map indicating your assigned starting position. You're going to go there and, on my signal, start trying to bomb each other. Is that clear?"

"Understood." said Zuikaku.

"Got it." confirmed Enterprise.

"Right, just to make sure. None of you have loaded your planes with live ordnance, right? No live torpedoes or bombs?" said Zuikaku.

"Of course. Paint rounds and paint explosives only." Enterprise chirped.

"And you, Zuikaku-san?"

"Already double checked them, even the anti-aircraft guns."

"Very well, then. You may go to your positions."

"May the best carrier win." said Enterprise as she started sailing away.

"Roger that." answered Zuikaku as she did the same.

 _'Good. Keep it sportive.'_ said the admiral through the radio.

After twenty minutes of sailing at medium speed, Zuikaku had lost direct sight of her base, of Enterprise, and of anything other than the sea and the sky. Carriers generally didn't like being alone, and although Zuikaku knew that the perimeter was protected by destroyer and submarine screens, and that she could clearly see the camera drones the admiral had mentioned flying high above her, she's still feeling somewhat on edge.

 _'Ten minutes until we start.'_ announced Katori on the radio.

Zuikaku was at her position in five.

 _'Are you two in your positions?'_

The two carriers answered in the affirmative.

 _'Begin!'_

Zuikaku wasted no time. She immediately launched five Zeros in five different directions to act as scouts. Neither Enterprise nor Zuikaku knew of each other starting location, and as the Battle of Midway had proven, whoever could acquire their enemy position first would have the bigger chance of winning the engagement.

Of course, by doing this Zuikaku had made a compromise. Carriers had very limited space inside of them, and by sending her fighters as scouts Zuikaku had actually made her anti-air defense significantly weaker. But the Kido Butai had relied too much on their escort's faulty floatplanes when they fought against Enterprise and her sisters, and they had paid the price. Zuikaku was not eager to follow in their footsteps.

Zuikaku tried to mitigate her loss in AA by only sending out the older model Zeros, the A6M2s and the A6M3s, while keeping the more powerful and modern A6M6 and few A6M8 in her two enclosed hangars. Zuikaku would've liked to use deck park like the American carriers, which would give her more space for her planes and enabled her to simply toss burning hazards overboard in case of fire, but since none of her planes could actually fold their wings in any meaningful way, it probably wouldn't make that much of a difference.

Zuikaku mentally 'looked' inside herself and started counting. She was carrying the Shoukaku-class carrier standard loadout. Fifteen Zeros, now only ten with the five Zuikaku had launched, twenty-seven Nakajima B5N torpedo bombers, and twenty-seven Aichi D3A dive bombers. She also had had twelve backup planes stored in pieces ready to be assembled at any time. She didn't know exactly what kind of loadout Enterprise had, but if she's carrying a Yorktown-class standard, she'd have between twenty to twenty-five Corsairs, twelve to fifteen Avengers, and the absolutely ridiculous thirty-eight Dauntless dive bombers.

By very quick math, Zuikaku knew that her planes would be slaughtered by Enterprise's fighters in a direct combat, but if Zuikaku could find the American carrier first, she might be able to get a single hit if she made an early bomber rush, and since the rules didn't model the American excellent damage control, that single hit would be all she needed.

Zuikaku silently cursed the fact that Enterprise could carry equivalent or even superior number of planes as her despite being much smaller and lighter. Stupid American efficiency and their penchant for open hangars and welding instead of riveting. Zuikaku was sure that at least ten percent of her weight was just from the millions of bolts holding her body together. Stupid.

Zuikaku pinched her stomach and sighed as her fingers picked more flesh than she would've liked.

"Come on, chubby. focus." Zuikaku gave herself a pep talk.

Zuikaku launched a little less than third of all her bombers, ready to rush Enterprise the moment she was found. This was a gamble. If her Zeros took too long to find Enterprise, then Zuikaku would need to refuel her planes before attacking.

Her gamble paid off. One of her Zeros, the one who had flown northwards, managed to spot Enterprise from between the cover of clouds. However, even if Zuikaku was sure that her plane was well hidden, she could've sworn that Enterprise was looking up at her, smiling.

It was at that moment Zuikaku knew, she'd screwed up. In an effort to save planes and fuel, She had forgotten to establish a Combat Air Patrol.

"Spread out!" Zuikaku screamed, ordering her loitering bombers to scatter. They barely made it before a wave of Dauntless dive bombers, escorted by a force of twelve Corsairs, rained down from the sky and straight towards Zuikaku.

Having read the book written by Hara Tameichi, one of the best naval officers the IJN ever had, Zuikaku had been eager to try a new bomb avoidance tactic for a while. She just hadn't expected that she would have her chance as she fought once more against an American carrier.

Zuikaku mentally kicked the heck out of her lead engineer fairy and forced her engines to start spinning backward, reducing her speed drastically. Zuikaku closed her eyes as American bombs fell just in front of her, splashing her with a mixture of salt water and white paint.

 _'Judge! How's that?'_ asked Enterprise through the radio.

 _'No direct hit. Zuikaku is still in the game.'_ said Katori, who was definitely watching the match closely through the camera drones.

 _'Cursed! Then how about this?!'_

Zuikaku didn't know what Enterprise meant until she remembered that Corsairs could also be used as fighter-bombers.

Zuikaku pushed her boilers to critical and jumped forward as an explosion went off behind her. Her fairies' protest made Zuikaku realized that she, a relatively massive fleet carrier, had been trying to use a destroyer tactic. Her engine room was getting battered.

Zuikaku had no choice but to slow down, and that's when she spotted the Avengers.

"Oi! Give me a break!"

 _'Denied! I'm trying to make you my slave here!'_

Zuikaku couldn't see Enterprise face right now, but she imagined that if she could, she would've seen her laughing sadistically.

Zuikaku desperately prepared the rest of her fighters to scramble as the Avengers reached a close enough distance for her AA to start opening up. Zuikaku managed to hit a few with her paint rounds, obliging them by rules to fly out of the game area and make a landing on Saratoga, who had been assigned to that specific duty. But most of the Avengers managed to drop their torpedoes in the water. Zuikaku tried to make an evasive maneuver, but her overheated engines couldn't give her the speed she needed. At least one of those torpedoes would touch her.

 _'that's a hit!'_ Enterprise cheery voice echoed in the airwaves.

 _'No, that's a dud. Your torpedo didn't explode.'_

Zuikaku couldn't possibly miss this chance for a bout of friendly mockery.

"Three cheers for shitty American torpedoes! Hip hip!"

 _'Dammit!'_

To be fair, by the time the Avenger was in service, the American Mark 13 aerial torpedo had come a long way from its 1930 self. So maybe Akashi just hadn't had the time to install the latest modification.

Having expended their bombs, Enterprise bombers started making their way home, but the Corsairs stayed, having decided that they'd rather massacre Zuikaku's bombers instead of escorting their own retreating bombers. Zuikaku commanded her five scout fighters to converge into a single squadron. Maybe she could take some potshots at those bombers. In any case, the Corsairs were still an immediate threat to Zuikaku.

Zuikaku began launching her own fighters, and to prevent them from being shot down as they slowly gained altitude, she launched them in between the more vulnerable bombers. This would compromise her ability to make a counter attack, but her immediate survival was a priority.

When her Zeros finally reached combat altitude, Zuikaku told her bombers to make their attack run towards Enterprise while her fighters started engaging the Corsairs, leaving the air above Zuikaku an exclusive space for intense fighter dogfight.

A Corsair was a terrifying plane. It had a massive engine that would allow it to outrun anything that Zuikaku could throw at it, ridiculous armor scheme, and machine guns for a face. But Zuikaku wasn't without her own advantages. The A6M6 could match the earlier American planes with its self-sealing fuel tank and water-methanol engine booster, and the A6M8 was equipped with the Mitsubishi Kinsei engine that although was a lot less powerful than Corsair's P&W Double Wasp Radial, was also mounted on a lot lighter airframe.

Corsair's thick armor also had some disadvantages. Most notable was that in order to protect the pilot, a wide slab of steel was installed behind the seat. This enhanced the pilot's chance of survival but also meant that any Corsair pilot would perpetually have a giant 180-degree sphere of blind spot behind them. Zuikaku intended to exploit the most out of this design flaw.

However, after only a minute of close quarter combat, the Corsairs suddenly pulled out of the big ball of violence. Zuikaku would've liked to think that the Corsairs were retreating, but she knew that this was not the case. They were only gaining altitude for their 'Boom and Zoom' tactic.

As expected, the Corsairs suddenly made a big turn the moment they had gained the necessary potential energy to build up speed, and started charging towards Zuikaku's Zeros.

"Scatter!"

Like a group of fish assaulted by a great white shark, Zuikaku's Zeros scattered in all directions, letting the Corsairs harmlessly passed by them.

"Ha! You've missed!"

Zuikaku's small victory was ruined when Enterprise Corsairs didn't pull up after their dive as she had expected. Instead, they were going straight for Zuikaku, and Judging by their speed they weren't intending to stop anytime soon. Well, at least not soon enough for Zuikaku.

"Uhh...E? what are you..."

 _ **'ROOSEVELT, BANZAAAAAAII!'**_

Zuikaku was sure that few of her fairies had just relieved themselves in their pants. She thought that Enterprise had actually gone insane when she noticed, as the Corsairs were getting closer and closer, that beside the 1000-pound bombs they had dropped earlier the Corsairs were also carrying eight rockets each, all painted in a camouflage pattern that matched the underside of the Corsairs.

"Clever girl..."

In a series of perfectly coordinated flashes, the Corsairs released their rockets and pulled up as hard as they could, leaving Zuikaku dead in the water, eyes closed and cursing her own ineptitude.

SPLORCH!

"...ugh."

 _'Zuikaku-san has got_ splatooned _! This game belongs to Enterprise!'_ Announced Katori in an uncharacteristic cheerfulness.

Zuikaku slowly wiped her face with her hand, slowly opening her eyes. What she saw then was quite unpleasant.

"Red, white, and blue paints? Really, E?"

 _'I am marking my possession.'_ said Enterprise with a not little amount of evil gloating in her tone of voice. _'Ooooh, we're going to have so much fun together, my little crane.'_

...

...

"Fuck."

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 **A/N: Apparently I've made a few research mistakes in this chapter. will edit as necessary.**


	27. Goddess of the Galley

Zuikaku looked sadly at the peeled potato in her hand.

Well, she would've liked to call it peeled, but the thing looked more like a survivor of a serial killer assault, a serial killer that possessed a dangerous enthusiasm but also a limited skill with a knife. A very blunt knife.

She needed help.

It was already past midnight and most people Zuikaku could ask for help were already asleep, soldier discipline and all that, but there should be at least a single person who was still awake.

Saratoga should still be at the admiral office at the moment.

Collecting her courage, Zuikaku dropped her ruined potato and the recently misused knife into the sink, and silently walked towards the admiral office.

"Eleventh of January, 1928." Zuikaku could hear her admiral speak as she opened the door.

"My deck landed its first aircraft, flown by the naval aviator Marc A. Mitscher." Saratoga's voice answered.

"Twenty-first of June, 1930."

"presidential review at Norfolk."

"Fifteenth of March, 1938."

"A naval exercise near Hawaii, part of the Fleet Problem XIX."

"Seventh of December, 1941." continued the admiral, her tone unchanged.

Saratoga's answer for this one was not as calm as the ones before.

"I...I was at San Diego, after modernizing at Bremerton's drydock."

"Twenty-fifth of July, 1946." said the admiral mercilessly.

Saratoga went quiet, and Zuikaku couldn't take it anymore. She was about to barge in when another voice echoed inside the room.

"Hey, go easy on her." demanded a distinctively accented voice. "Ma'am."

Zuikaku then realized that the voice was coming from right beside her and slightly below, and indeed, standing beside her, just below Zuikaku's peripheral vision, was the light carrier Ryuujou.

"You..." Saratoga muttered as she realized who had just spoken.

"See? she recognized me. And we knew already that she also recognized Miss Zuikaku, and by her expression right now..." Ryuujou pointed at Saratoga, who quickly looked down to hide her face. "...she also remembered everything. So could you please lay off of her? Ma'am."

"Uhh..." The admiral looked at the sheet of paper in her hand, seemingly shocked by the light carrier's sudden transgression. "Well, her memory seems intact enough, so we might be able to cut the time of training."

The admiral took her pen and started scratching something on the paper, before returning her attention to Saratoga.

"Very well, Miss Saratoga, we'll have you combat ready by the end of the week. You may go. My apologies for the...incovenience."

"It's alright, admiral. Thank you." said Saratoga, obviously faking a smile.

Saratoga started walking towards the door at the same time Ryuujo properly entered the office, approaching the admiral's desk and making a room in the doorframe for Saratoga to pass through Zuikaku.

"Here's the eastern patrol report you wanted, ma'am." said Ryuujou.

"Thank you Ryuujou. And Zuikaku, do you have business with me?"

"Actually, I have something to talk about with Saratoga."

"Me?" Saratoga turned, already halfway through the corridor.

"Yes. In the galley. Please." Zuikaku said, trying not to sound desperate.

"Don't beat each other." said the admiral.

"We won't."

"Well, if that's what you wish, then I don't mind." said Saratoga. "Uhh...which way to the galley?"

"Follow me, please."

Zuikaku started to make her way back to the galley, with Saratoga following quietly.

"Is this about Enterprise?"

"Wh...how..." Zuikaku was surprised by the sudden question, but then she remembered that the whole base probably already knew about her deal with Enterprise. "Well...yes."

"Does she want you to cook for her?"

They were going right to the galley, so of course Saratoga could guess that.

"Yes, and I'm a bit of a disaster in the kitchen, so..."

"You want my help."

"Pretty much that, yeah."

"At twelve thirty in the morning?"

The two reached the door to the galley, and Zuikaku rushed forward to open it.

"Look, I just don't want anyone to see me messing up, okay?" Zuikaku confessed as she let Saratoga entered the galley first. "Oh...by the way, Miss Saratoga, you...you can keep a secret, right?"

"Sure." Saratoga looked at Zuikaku from inside the galley. "But I would've never expected you to be so shy, Miss Zuikaku. How cute."

"Haha." Zuikaku laughed shyly as she followed Saratoga into the galley.

"Alright then. When do you want the food to be ready?"

"In six hours, if possible. preferably when the majority of the base are still asleep."

"Ah, so you're going for the 'breakfast in bed' instead of the more common 'romantic dinner', then? I see." Saratoga's sight wandered as she mulled the problem inside her head, leaving the sudden rush of color on Zuikaku's face went unnoticed. "Then it's going to be something simple. Something small. Hmm...do you want it Japanese style or western?"

"I..."

Zuikaku was about to give her answer when the door opened again and the light carrier Ryuujou entered.

"Oh? you're here." realized Ryuujou.

Zuikaku noticed that Saratoga was tightening up the moment Ryuujou entered the room. She knew that If she didn't do something she would end up in a very awkward situation very soon.

"Ah! Ryuujou! what are you doing here?" Zuikaku called, trying to sound as cheerful as possible.

"I'm planning to use the kitchen, as you can see." said Ryuujou, gesturing towards the bag she's carrying, probably containing the ingredients she's going to use. "just pretend I'm not here."

"Oh! that reminds me!" said Saratoga, suddenly back to her tutor chef mode. "What ingredients do we actually have, Miss Zuikaku?"

"Uh, I was planning to make something western, so I just went and got anything that I thought I'd need. Bacon, ice cream, eggs, flour, peas, cheese, things like that. They're on that counter."

"Excellent! You can rarely go wrong with bacon." declared Saratoga as she approached the pile of random ingredients Zuikaku was pointing at.

At the same time, Ryuujou was also taking out a large amount of ingredient from her bag.

"Special occasion?" Zuikaku inquire.

"You can say that." The light carrier answered flatly.

"What is it?"

Ryuujou raised her eyes from her ingredients and towards Zuikaku, looking slightly irritated.

"I thought it was obvious that it's a secret. Why else would anyone use the galley at 1 a.m. in the morning? Right, Miss Zuikaku?"

Zuikaku gulped. "R...right. Of course."

"Oh, baking soda. And some fruits, too. You really thought of everything for someone who didn't know what she's doing." said Saratoga as she finished rummaging through Zuikaku's ingredients.

"Uh, thanks, I guess?"

"Let's see...what about tiny potato bites wrapped in cheese and bacon for the appetizer, followed by peas, bacon, and egg toast for the main course, then finished by a bowl of nice, cold banana split? We can also use the extra bananas and the pears to make a smoothie. These should be a light enough meal for the breakfast of a standard aircraft carrier."

Zuikaku nodded. "I'm in your hands."

"You bet you are. The way you cut that potato could drive any professional chef to tears."

Ah, she saw it.

"Anyway, before we begin, I need you to promise me one thing."

"Shoot."

"You will not mention to Enterprise that I've helped you in any way."

Zuikaku tilted her head slightly. "Why?"

"Because I've got a feeling that she's going to kill me if you do."

Zuikaku was somewhat shocked. That was a ridiculous accusation.

"That's ridiculous. why would you think that?" said Zuikaku, parroting her own brain.

"I just got this hunch...you know what? never mind that. Just don't mention my name, okay?"

Zuikaku shrugged. "I don't really understand, but sure."

"Good." Saratoga sighed in relief. "Then let's get cooking." 


	28. And Then She Messed Up

"it's 6:30, you ready to finish up?" said Saratoga, looking at the wall clock.

"Right. let's." confirmed Zuikaku.

The two carriers had finished preparing most of Enterprise's meal sooner than they both had expected, so Saratoga suggested that they delayed doing the finishing touch until early sunrise. That way, Enterprise could have a hot, freshly prepared meal instead of an already cold one.

Zuikaku quickly steamed and crushed the already boiled potatoes while Saratoga took the ice cream out of the freezer to complete the banana split. They continued by re-heating the appetizer and the beans, cooking the egg, toasting the buns and bringing the smoothie out of the refrigerator. Saratoga then finished the relatively exquisite meal by expertly arranging the various foods on a set of platters and other kinds of serving dishes, and by exactly seven in the morning, Zuikaku had found herself holding a rather extraordinarily large tray with both hands.

"Good luck." Saratoga waved as Zuikaku walked out of the galley.

Zuikaku's journey to Enterprise's front door was, luckily, uneventful. Zuikaku did meet a handful of support ships and personnel on the way, but no one that she actually knew personally, and certainly no one that would ask why she's carrying a small buffet this early in the morning.

"Nice food." said Albacore suddenly from beside Zuikaku. By this point, Zuikaku had gotten used to the submarine's antic, which was the only reason she did not immediately drop her tray in surprise.

"Of course you'd be here." snarked Zuikaku.

"Hey, you should be grateful. I've made sure that your path was clear."

"You mean..."

"What? you thought it was only a coincidence that nobody asked why you were carrying enough food to satisfy a tornado this early in the morning?" Albacore winked. "Go ahead, take your time. I'll make sure that you will not be disturbed."

Albacore gestured at the door, and Zuikaku sighed, accepting her fate as she knocked three times on Enterprise's door, barely able to hold her tray in one hand.

"Maybe she's still asleep." said Albacore. "Try the handle."

"What? just barging in?"

"Element of surprise!" Albacore whispered loudly. Somehow.

Before Zuikaku could think of a response, Albacore's hand had already reached for the handle of Enterprise's door. She frowned as she was met with resistance.

"Locked. Give me a minute."

Albacore pulled out a bobby pin and a flat screwdriver.

"Okay, now this is definitely illegal."

"Live fast, die young, leave a good-looking coral reef." said Albacore as she worked the lock in front of her. "Besides, Enterprise probably wouldn't mind you invading her privacy...and then some."

Zuikaku could hear a loud click, and the door to Enterprise's room swung open. "Five pin lock. Easy." said Albacore while making a hotel doorman's pose, signaling for Zuikaku to enter.

Zuikaku hesitated. "I don't think..."

"Oh, come on, turkey, don't change species and chicken out now! You're literally only a step away from your goal!"

Well, she had already gone this far, and it would be a shame to let the food went cold.

"Here goes." Zuikaku entered one foot inside the room, and then the other.

"Atta girl." Albacore cheered. "Good luck."

The door closed behind Zuikaku, and for a moment Zuikaku was in a total darkness until her night vision finally adjusted.

Enterprise room was very tidy, with the floor clear of any kind of debris. Kanmusu were generally very tidy, almost genetically so, in fact. After all, you wouldn't want your pump to be clogged by trash in the case of flooding.

The room was also quite spartan. There's one corner of the room seemingly designated as an office space with a simple desk where Enterprise's laptop lay opened, accompanied by a small bookcase on the side, wherein Zuikaku could recognize the books that she had borrowed before. By the wall closest to the door, there was a big wooden cabinet, where Zuikaku presumed Enterprise kept her clothes.

However, Zuikaku's attention was solely focused on the spot between the desk and the cabinet, where a small one person bed was located. There she could see a figure sleeping soundly under what looked like a very thin blanket.

The figure shook. It was impossible to stay asleep when your room was suddenly filled with the smell of a first class meal.

"Huh...?"

Enterprise rubbed her eyes, her military instinct immediately pointed her gaze towards the foreign figure in her room, the room she definitely remembered had locked the night before. For a moment Zuikaku thought that Enterprise was going to scream, or worse, start bombing her, but Enterprise seemed to have recognized Zuikaku almost immediately. It didn't make her looked any less shocked, however.

"Wha...what are you doing here?!" said Enterprise, almost shouting.

Zuikaku calmed herself before answering. "Your meal, your majesty?"

It took a while for Enterprise to notice Zuikaku's tray. "This early in the morning?"

"You've never specified where nor when you wanted it."

"Ah..." Enterprise's expression suddenly looked conflicted, as if she didn't know whether to be happy or furious. But then it calmed down, and even through the darkness, Zuikaku could've sworn that Enterprise's face went a shade of red for a while.

"Is the door locked?" Enterprise suddenly asked.

"Uhh...no." Well, at least currently.

"Shit. I remember locking it yesterday." Enterprise put a hand on her forehead, before turning her attention back to Zuikaku. "Just lock it, please. use the latches."

"But..."

"Just do it, Crane."

Zuikaku was about to protest, but Enterprise's voice was quite authoritative. She walked to the door and pulled the latches. Now the door would be significantly harder to pick.

"Good." said Enterprise as she took a seating position on her bed, and when Enterprise's thin blanket slowly slid down her body, Zuikaku realized why she had the door locked.

'Dammit, Albacore' Zuikaku thought.

"Ah...excuse me." said Zuikaku instinctively, averting her eyes.

"I sweat a lot when I sleep." said Enterprise, checking her body. "So you can understand why I was a bit upset that you were suddenly in my room. Sorry about that."

Indeed, Zuikaku could see, no matter how hard she tried not to, that Enterprise's body was glistening even under the limited amount of light, and if her nose hadn't been overwhelmed by the hot food in her hands, Zuikaku suspected that she would've been able to smell...something else.

"No, I was at fault." Zuikaku apologized, flustered all the while. "Uh...do you want me to get out?"

"No need. You've seen me naked before."

Yes, but not in this context.

"Just bring the food here, please."

"A...are you not going to get dressed?"

"Without taking a bath first? I'll just get my clothes dirty. Now, come here."

Zuikaku's legs were as if they were made of rocks, but she managed to move them to walk towards Enterprise's desk. She put her tray on the desk right beside Enterprise's laptop and started turning towards the door, all the while feeling an odd desperation to leave that room.

"So...if you need me for anything..."

"No, stay." Enterprise raised her hand. "You're still my slave until the end of the week."

Zuikaku considered simply bolting out of the room and out of the range of Enterprise's order, but she had agreed to the deal and she had her honor, dammit.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Well, I don't feel like using my hand." Enterprise smiled teasingly. "Feed me."

"What."

"You heard me."

"I'm pretty sure this enters into the 'weird request' territory."

"There's nothing weird!" Enterprise insisted. "I just want to feel like a royalty for a day."

"I thought Americans despise the concept of royalty."

"Yet our daughters still desire to be treated like a princess." explained Enterprise. "Come on, Crane. Just for this day, okay? I'll let you go after this."

Zuikaku raised her eyebrows. "The deal is done?"

"After this, yes."

That meant a five day cut of being Enterprise's slave. That's a bargain, really. Zuikaku wasn't sure if her heart could take any more of this kind of treatment.

Zuikaku bit her lips. "Alright, then."

She pulled up a chair from Enterprise's desk and took a seat right beside Enterprise's bed. She picked up a small fork and started digging into the appetizer.

"Well, here goes." Zuikaku offered the fork to Enterprise's mouth.

"Aaaahh..." Enterprise opened her mouth wide, using her fingers to swipe errant hairs away from her face and tucking them behind her ear. "Mmph."

"Is it good?" Zuikaku asked, still unable to look Enterprise in the face...or any part of her, for that matter.

"It's good. Didn't know you're such a good cook, Crane."

"Yeah. It involved a lot of trial and error and a lot of wasted materials to get this good."

"Well, I'd say it's worth it."

Enterprise chewed and by the time she swallowed her food, Zuikaku was ready with another bite on her fork.

"Say, Crane, do you have a boyfriend? or maybe a girlfriend?"

If Zuikaku had been the one who was eating, she would've spat.

"That's a bit private, don't you think?" protested Zuikaku, trying to keep her composure.

"Hmm." Zuikaku's reaction seemed to only aggravate the American carrier's curiosity. "Suspicious."

"There's nothing suspicious about..." Enterprise looked at Zuikaku with a strong, interrogative gaze, completely unblinking. "Oh, alright. I don't have one. Happy, now?"

In a room with a better lighting, Zuikaku might've noticed the sudden cheer on Enterprise's face as she admitted that fact.

"Oh? Then if someone would, say, confess their love to you right now, what would your answer be?"

"My answer?" Zuikaku shoved another piece of Cheese Bacon Potato down Enterprise's mouth. "Honestly, it probably would be a rejection."

Enterprise stopped chewing.

"You see, I've read a lot of real-life accounts about love blooming on the battlefield, only to end up in a shambled marriage once the war time adrenaline wore out."

"I...see."

"So I think I'll postpone dating, at least until the war is over. Then maybe I'll find a nice man to settle down with."

"Or a woman." added Enterprise.

A woman? Zuikaku had not yet made up her mind about that. She certainly knew a lot more women than she did men, and it wasn't yet clear if Kanmusu could get pregnant anyway. but...

"I'm pretty sure that's still illegal in Japan."

"Then you could move. Maybe to America? With all the rebuilding that would be happening, I'm sure we...you could get a cheap housing near one of our coasts..."

Zuikaku jabbed her fork into another piece of food. "Look, I'm not even sure if I'm going to survive until the end of the war, or even if the war is going to end at all. So could we please stop talking about this? it's kinda depressing for me."

"R...right." Enterprise looked down. "I'm depressing you, huh?"

"Well, not you specifically, but..."

"You know what? I'm losing my appetite. Can you get out?"

"What? but..."

Enterprise suddenly turned her head towards Zuikaku, and for a moment Zuikaku remembered why she had earned the nickname 'Grey Ghost'.

"Get. Out." Enterprise said with a stern tone that sent a chill down Zuikaku's spine, and Zuikaku felt her fight or flight activating in a landslide favor of flight, telling her to immediately evacuate.

"W...well, if that's what you want." stuttered Zuikaku as she rapidly stood up from Enterprise's chair. "Uh, just leave the tray outside when you're done, okay? I'll clean it up later..."

When Enterprise didn't give a response except for an increasingly angrier glare, Zuikaku hurried herself out of the door, and she could hear the door being locked behind her the moment she reached the corridor.

"What the heck was that?" Zuikaku honestly had thought that Enterprise was genuinely about to murder her in that room. "Why would she be so mad? I thought I did well with the food..."

"Seriously? you're asking that now?"

Zuikaku turned to her side and saw the submarine Albacore leaning against the wall, arms crossed and with a disapproving look on her face.

"You know what, ma'am? I was about to punch you in the face, but then I realized that your skull is thicker than the turret armor of a Yamato. So I'm just going to kick you in the shin now."

"What?"

 ** _WHACK_**


	29. A Sisterly Advice

**A/N: Unfortunately, this probably would be the last chapter for quite some time. Schedule's getting tight, you see.**

 **From now on, I could probably manage a 2k words chapter a month, at the most optimistic estimation.**

 **But for the time being, please enjoy the chapter!  
**

 **Cheers!**

* * *

It's only eleven in the morning, and Zuikaku was already feeling in the dump.

She was walking carefully inside the main building of the base, carrying a pot of hot tea and a ceramic cup filled with a small sugar stone when she's reminded why she was feeling that way.

As Zuikaku was about to pass a corner, the USS Enterprise suddenly appeared in front of her, still looking as mysteriously angry as she did that morning. She glared at Zuikaku for a second that felt like a minute and then walked past Zuikaku without a word.

"Damn. What did you do?"

Zuikaku turned her head and saw the light cruiser Tenryuu, carrying a brown haired little girl in her embrace. The little girl was wearing a white shirt and a black skirt that Zuikaku had seen the majority of the Fletcher class wore, and these combined with her pixie cut hair made the girl looked somewhat like a tomboy, though her face and expression were anything but masculine.

"Sullivan, isn't it?"

"The Sullivans, actually, with the 'The' and an 's' at the end." Tenryuu corrected. "Apparently she was named after brothers."

"That's quite a mouthful."

"Well, I just call her Sullivan. She doesn't seem to mind."

Sullivan raised her face and looked at Zuikaku, only to go back to burying her face in Tenryuu's modest bosom the moment Zuikaku made an eye contact.

"She's still a bit shy with us, especially around the submarines."

With how a lot of the submarines acted, Zuikaku could imagine.

"She's really friendly to you, though." Zuikaku said, announcing her observation.

"You know me, I'm good with kids." said Tenryuu, and by the tone of her voice, Zuikaku couldn't tell if she was proud or annoyed.

Tenryuu was actually very small even for a light cruiser. She's more of a destroyer leader, or an unusually big destroyer rather than a proper cruiser. As a Kanmusu, she wasn't that much taller than the tallest destroyer, and this probably made her more approachable to the mostly child-like destroyers. Just days after her summoning Tenryuu had found herself acting as the go-to girl in the base for daycare related matters, and as much as she herself would like to deny it, Zuikaku was sure that the light cruiser secretly liked the status.

"Juneau is escorting Saratoga in her last shakedown cruise, so she asked me to take care of her."

"Just her? not the other destroyers?"

"Well, them too, but I don't think the other American destroyers would approve of me trying to treat them like a child, so I just let them be most of the time. I help out occasionally when they get into trouble. Or planning to get into trouble."

Zuikaku nodded, gesturing towards Sullivan. "Does she like sweets?"

"Oh, absolutely."

Zuikaku carefully picked up the sugar stone from the ceramic cup on her tray and offered it to the shy destroyer.

"Look, Sullivan, Zuizui wants to give you a candy." said Tenryuu, signaling for Sullivan to raise her head from Tenryuu's bosom and actually looked at Zuikaku's gift.

"Zuizui?" said Sullivan in a soft voice.

"Yes, my name is Zuizui." said Zuikaku, playing along. "Would you like a candy?"

Zuikaku's palm tingled as a small hand reached out and took the sugar stone from her.

"Thank you, Zuizui." said Sullivan, before putting the sugar stone in her mouth and burying her face back in Tenryuu's bosom.

"She doesn't talk much, but when she talks, her voice makes me oddly happy." Tenryuu smiled. "Sorry for your tea, though."

"It's okay, sister just have to take her tea black for once."

Tenryuu raised her face in understanding. "Ah, right. She's coming back today, isn't she?"

"Yup. Should be here in a minute or so."

"I should leave you to it, then." Tenryuu looked down at the top of Sullivan's head. "Come on, Sullivan. Be a good girl and wave Zuizui a goodbye."

Sullivan turned her head, revealing a bulging cheek where she kept the sugar stone Zuikaku had given her. She raised a hand and waved unenthusiastically.

"Have a fine day." Zuikaku waved back as she continued walking towards the waterways.

Zuikaku reached the waterways and found herself a chair to sit on. It took only five minutes before she could see the figure of her sister entering a waterway followed by her escorts. The technicians and engineers quickly moved in, taking off their riggings and ushered them back to the workshop. Zuikaku could see her sister's face brightening as she saw Zuikaku approaching.

"Welcome back, sis." said Zuikaku, carrying a recently poured cup of tea. But Shoukaku didn't give her the chance to hand it over as she immediately drew Zuikaku into a massive hug.

"Whoa, careful." said Zuikaku, almost dropping her sister's tea.

"Sorry." Shoukaku apologized.

"How's the escort mission?" Zuikaku asked as she handed the cup to her sister.

"Nothing much, really. Just needed to take care of a few submarines." answered Shoukaku, followed by elegantly sipping on her cup. "I took no damage whatsoever, so maintenance probably would only need to wash the salts from my planes."

"Then would you like to relax while they prepare your bath? I could fix you some light snack."

Shoukaku's face turned sour. "Zuikaku, I know how you are in the kitchen..."

Zuikaku smiled. "Don't worry. I had some practice lately."

Shoukaku looked around her. "Really? Then why isn't the base on fire?"

Zuikaku scoffed. "Oh, come on, I wasn't that bad."

"Just kidding." Shoukaku chuckled. "Actually, I would also like to hear about what I've been missing. Knowing this base there were probably quite a few things happened."

"Uh...there might be a few..." Like the fact that Zuikaku had gotten herself hospitalized again, but Shoukaku didn't particularly need to know that.

The two sisters made their way into the mess hall, and Zuikaku immediately went into the galley, asking the supply ship on duty if she could have a fruit of some kind. She went back to her sister with a small plate, a whole apple, and a nice, sharp knife in hands.

Lunchtime was just about to begin, and the mess hall was starting to get crowded with all sorts of ships, most notably the Americans. Most of them had been sent out to escort Saratoga for her last field test before she could be declared combat ready, but some that remained still managed to be the center of attention, especially the towering Iowa that had taken her seat among the relatively short Kongou sisters.

"So? how do the Americans get along with us so far?" Shoukaku asked as Zuikaku took her seat beside her.

"Surprisingly well, actually. I've made some more friends, and so did few others."

Zuikaku began peeling the apple while Shoukaku continued to nail her attention towards the American ships.

"I see...I guess I was worried for nothing..."

"What? you still thought they're going to suddenly attack us?"

"Not exactly, I just thought that we wouldn't be able to work together that well. Maybe Iowa wasn't a special case after all..."

Shoukaku directed her gaze towards the USS Iowa, who sat with a bright, cheerful expression next to a noticeably exasperated Kongou.

"We summoned another carrier while you're away." noticed Zuikaku off-handedly.

Shoukaku suddenly looked excited. "Who was it?"

"Saratoga."

Shoukaku's face drooped. "We personally killed her sister, if I remember it correctly."

"We did. But she's my personal friend now. In fact, she's the one who taught me how to use a knife properly."

Zuikaku needed to go through a couple of cracked ribs to reach that stage with Saratoga, but Shoukaku didn't need to know that.

Shoukaku gently rubbed her chin, seemingly in deep thought.

"I see. It appears that I'm the only one who's still nervous around the American ships, isn't it?"

"Oh, no, there are plenty of others, believe me." said Zuikaku, cutting a piece of apple and handing it to Shoukaku.

Shoukaku took a bite of the newly peeled piece of apple and waited until she had swallowed it completely before continuing. "Still, I think it's time for me to connect with the American ships if I ever to work with them properly."

Hearing her sister's words, Zuikaku promptly broke into a wide smile.

"That's a great idea, sis."

"You'll help me, right?"

"Of course! When Saratoga comes back from her test cruise, I'll introduce you to her immediately."

Shoukaku scratched her head. "Actually, I was hoping that you could introduce me to Enterprise first since she's the one that felt like the hardest to get close to."

The knife slipped from Zuikaku's fingers, and she immediately felt a stinging pain from her hand.

Zuikaku cursed under her breath, sucking her bleeding finger.

"A...are you okay?" asked Shoukaku, clearly worried.

"I'm okay, just used a little too much power, that's all." she said that, but if she was a human she would have cut straight through her finger. Then again she wouldn't have that much power in the first place if she was a human.

"Did something happened between you and Enterprise? I thought you two had a good relationship."

"Re...relationship..?" Zuikaku stuttered for a moment before she realized what Shoukaku actually meant. "Oh, well, we did, and I hope we still do, it's just..." Zuikaku paused, confused about what she's going to say next. Beside her, Shoukaku was looking increasingly worried towards her little sister.

Zuikaku decided to come through.

"Sis...what do you think of love?"

Shoukaku face immediately froze up. She looked at her sister that she had known for almost her entire life as if she was the strangest stranger that she had ever met. Then, beyond Zuikaku's wildest expectation, Shoukaku started to tear up.

"Ah...my little Zui has grown up..."

"Wait, what?"

Shoukaku kept crying on. "It happened so fast...for so long I had assumed that I was going to be the first..."

"Whoa, hold on a second, I..."

Zuikaku couldn't finish her words before Shoukaku grabbed her hand with both of her own.

"I'll be a good aunt, I promise!"

Shoukaku started sobbing, and Zuikaku just couldn't take it.

"Just STOP!" Zuikaku shouted, drawing the attention of the whole mess hall. Both Zuikaku and Shoukaku had to look around apologetically before the majority of the crowd started to go back to their meal.

"Look, it's not like that, alright? I was just asking what did you think of love, you know, as a Kanmusu."

"I don't think I quite understand..." said Shoukaku, wiping her eyes.

Zuikaku took a moment to form the words that could convey her exact meaning.

"Okay, I mean, we've accepted that we're not actually human, right? We're war machines, and we've got certain advantages and disadvantages, and one of those disadvantages is that we don't actually know what's going to happen to us when the war is over."

Shoukaku tilted her head in silence, waiting, merely listening to her sister pouring her heart to her like she had done many times before.

"If the Abyssal is defeated and this war is over, then we will be the strongest thing on the sea." said Zuikaku, her voice quieter this time. "...and without a common enemy, I'm afraid that they...that we..."

Suddenly, Zuikaku's mind was as if it had hit a wall. She couldn't continue her words, and so she merely stared at the table with a blank expression on her face.

"...I'm just afraid that we would be forced to kill each other again..."

The two crane sisters went into silence, a dreadful silence that was only barely masked by the loud crowd around them. But then the older crane decided that human or not, she's going to be a good older sister. She raised her face and grabbed her younger sister by the shoulder, forcing her to look her in the eyes.

"Zuikaku, my Zuikaku, I regret to tell you that I don't actually have any experience in this kind of thing, but if you'd allow me to, I'd be happy to give my opinion."

Zuikaku looked confusedly at her sister for a moment, before she eventually gave a slow nod.

"Well, alright. Here goes." Shoukaku took a deep breath. "What I think of love as a Kanmusu is probably the same as if I were any other sentient creature."

Zuikaku looked increasingly confused. "W...what?"

"Love is, as I've heard it, the biggest mystery of life. But it's also surprisingly simple." Shoukaku began. "You said that you're afraid of love because of your uncertain future. But that's the entire point, both for Kanmusu and for humans. Love, contrary to the popular belief, is not about happiness. It's about pain. Trying to make your partner happy all the time would only lead to suffering."

"P...pain?"

"Yes. Love is about pain. To be precise, it's about each other's pain. Empathy, taking your burdens together, supporting each other, and sharing on their suffering just as much as their happiness, making each part of a pair stronger merely by the presence of the other. As long as you're together, then you would be able to face anything the world throws at you."

"But what if the pair got separated?"

"Then each part should be happy that it's ever been a part of a pair in the first place." Shoukaku smiled. "Life is a fleeting thing, even for us Kanmusu, and love is indeed a risk, but if you ever to try it, then you'll be given a small chance to eventually look at death in the eyes and proudly say; I am content."

Shoukaku gently grabbed her sister by the lower jaw.

"So chin up, my dear, and find that right person."

Zuikaku felt her heart beating faster as Shoukaku let go of her head.

Her muscle tightened as if she was ready to jump out of her seat and start running.

Her senses sharpened, almost as if they were desperate to catch the presence of a very specific person.

Zuikaku suddenly felt an unprecedented amount of certainty, like she knew exactly what she's going to do, for that day and forever.

"I'm sorry, sis." Zuikaku stood up, with renewed determination clearly visible in her eyes. "I need to go find someone."


	30. A Sudden Reversal

Zuikaku half-wished that someone would just come and rip her heart out of her chest as she nervously knocked on Enterprise's door. The beating was starting to get painful.

"The door's unlocked." said Enterprise from inside her room, her voice sounding suspiciously coarse.

Zuikaku entered. The room was a lot brighter than when she entered it last time this morning, but it's also slightly messier. The bed hadn't been made, and the desk was littered with a number of empty bottles.

"Uh...where did you get those?" asked Zuikaku, pointing at the bottles.

It's generally very hard for Kanmusu to get drunk. Their metabolism just wouldn't allow it most of the time. But some enterprising folks had managed to concoct some special mixtures that would allow Kanmusu to get just as drunk as regular humans would. They're lethal to regular humans, of course.

"One of your light carriers gave me." said Enterprise, obviously intoxicated. She was leaning on her chair with one hand hanging loosely over the back support, precariously gripping a half-empty bottle. "Said she remembered me and had no grudges, and then she basically just shoved them into my arms."

"Messy purple hair?"

"Ugh...I don't remember."

Enterprise sounded like she was about to puke.

"It was probably Jun'you."

The light carrier Jun'you was quite the businesswoman. There was a speculation that she ran a distillery right inside this very base, but numerous admiralty-approved raids to her room had so far revealed nothing.

"Uh...whatever. Why are you here, anyway?"

Enterprise stared at Zuikaku. well, not exactly at Zuikaku, more to a point slightly beside her. "I didn't know you had a twin, Crane."

Zuikaku scratched her own head. "Uh...well, I just wanted to ask you about something...but you're clearly busy, so I'm just going to leave now."

Honestly, Zuikaku was somewhat glad for a valid reason to chicken out. She was about to go out of the room when Enterprise shouted.

"No!"

Zuikaku's immediately stopped.

"I..I mean...why don't you stay for a little while? have a drink, maybe?" said Enterprise, offering her bottle.

Zuikaku thought about refusing, but something about Enterprise's voice was so pitiful that Zuikaku decided against it.

"Uh...sure."

Zuikaku slowly walked towards Enterprise.

"Go on, have a seat." Enterprise said as she gestured towards her bed.

Zuikaku nervously took her seat on Enterprise's bed. She noticed that the sheet was slightly damp.

"Here you go." Enterprise offered her bottle. The one that was already half empty. The mouth of the bottle was visibly wet.

"Uh..."

"What are you waiting for? Take it." hurried Enterprise.

So westerners really didn't care about this sort of thing, apparently.

Zuikaku subtly wiped the mouth of the bottle with the sleeves of her shirt and took a sip.

"Hehe...I got an indirect kiss..."

Zuikaku almost spat alcohol into her lungs, which was a very bad thing to do.

"Nice booze, huh?"

As Zuikaku was coughing violently, Enterprise was watching her, smiling with her chin on her hand.

"Gackh!" Zuikaku slammed a fist onto her own chest, forcing herself to stop coughing. "Okay, that was too much!"

Enterprise chuckled drunkenly as she leaned forward and tapped Zuikaku on the shoulder.

"Hey, it's all in good fun."

Zuikaku was not so sure about that.

"Say, E.." wheezed Zuikaku, still trying to catch her breath. "Have you been trying to mess with me?"

Enterprise tilted her head.

"Hm? Whaat?" Enterprise slurred her words. Her skin was red around her eyes, and she was looking distantly over Zuikaku's head and onto a wall. "No idea what you mean."

"Well, it's just that I thought you've been giving me hints, and..."

Zuikaku stopped when she realized what she was about to say.

What if she was over her head? what if she was just making assumption? In the first place, why would the great Grey Ghost be interested in her? If she was wrong, how hard would Enterprise be laughing at her for thinking so highly of herself?

"What kind of hints, Crane?" said Enterprise, and if Zuikaku hadn't been slightly intoxicated, she might've noticed that Enterprise's smile was very...disconcerting, like a plotting vixen.

Zuikaku shook her head, taking one last sip from Enterprise's bottle before putting it on the floor.

"Never mind, I was thinking about something absurd."

Zuikaku was about to stand up when Enterprise grabbed her by the sleeve.

"What kind of hints, Crane?"

"I..."

Zuikaku looked at Enterprise and suddenly froze over, like a deer caught in headlights. Zuikaku stood still as hers and Enterprise's eyes locked together, unblinking.

"I don't.."

Despite the numerous empty bottles in the room, Enterprise's face looked dangerously thirsty. She looked at Zuikaku with the sight of a prowling predator that reminded Zuikaku of the times Enterprise was hunting her, and the way she never let her go no matter where or how long she tried to run.

Zuikaku was scared.

"Don't leave." said Enterprise. Her voice wasn't slurred this time. It was clear and demanding, full of authority. "Sit down."

Zuikaku was too afraid to refuse.

Enterprise dragged her chair closer to the bed and herself closer to Zuikaku, never letting go of their eye contact. She then put one hand on Zuikaku's shoulder, pushing down gently on it. But for Zuikaku she might just as well have put an entire house on her. Her brain was screaming, telling her to run out of the room as fast as possible, but no matter what, Zuikaku couldn't move even a single limb of her body.

"Come on, have another drink." said Enterprise, offering a full bottle. Her voice was softer this time, but still almost supernaturally demanding. "I promise you'll have a good time."

Enterprise put her bottle forward, not pushing it, but just putting it near Zuikaku's mouth. Zuikaku grabbed it, though she herself not sure why.

Zuikaku put her lips around the bottle and started drinking, but let go after only a couple of gulps.

Zuikaku was not a very good drinker, even with normal, human booze, and the one that Enterprise was giving her was of very high quality, definitely brewed specifically to intoxicate her kind. The smell itself was striking through Zuikaku's brain, making it hard for her to think.

"I...I'm sorry, I just can't-"

Enterprise pushed slightly harder on Zuikaku's shoulder.

"Come on. You've been giving service to your country for two lifetimes. what's the harm of taking one day off?" said Enterprise. "Spend some time with me. It'll be fun. You want to be my friend, don't you?"

Friends with the famous Enterprise...that didn't sound so bad...

"I guess..." Zuikaku said groggily.

"Then down one bottle. You could do at least that much, right, Crane? or were you just that weak?"

Zuikaku looked at the many empty bottles that Enterprise had apparently finished by herself.

"Heh...don't take me lightly..." said Zuikaku, but not even her was sure of her own words.

"That's the spirit."

Zuikaku smiled weakly and pulled the bottle up high above her head. She started swallowing, letting the toxic liquid streaming down her throat and into her body. In front of her, Enterprise was clapping silently.

"Chug! Chug!" Enterprise cheered quietly.

Zuikaku kept the bottle up until the last drop of alcohol was drained, but when she tried to put the bottle away, she accidentally let go of it prematurely. The bottle dropped onto the floor with a loud thud. Zuikaku was surprised that it didn't shatter to pieces immediately.

"Sorry..."

"No, it's alright. that means it's working." Enterprise smiled.

wait...what was working exactly..?

"You're a pretty good drinker, aren't you? how are you holding up?"

Zuikaku was feeling a constant, painful sting behind her forehead, as if her brain was trying to break out of her skull.

"A bit...headache..."

Zuikaku felt weird. Her muscles were weak, probably because the alcohol had replaced a great amount of oxygen in her blood. In fact, she was weak enough that she offered almost no resistance when Enterprise moved her hand from her shoulder to her chest, pushing Zuikaku down onto the bed.

"You look a bit under the weather there, Zuikaku-chan."

Zuikaku's ears were tingling. Was that the first time Enterprise had used her actual name?

"Maybe you should rest for a minute or so. Don't worry, I'll watch over you."

That...that actually sounded good. Zuikaku's head was hurting her, and the lights on Enterprise's ceiling were starting to get unbearably painful.

"Should I turn off the light?" offered Enterprise.

"Mmh.. that'd be nice." answered Zuikaku, already closing her eyes.

Zuikaku's vision went dark, and Enterprise's bed suddenly felt very comfortable on her back. She felt herself drifting away, only to be yanked back into reality when she felt the bed shook as someone was getting onto it beside her.

Zuikaku felt a weight landing gently on her stomach, and a pair of hands pushing her shoulders deeper into the bed's cushion. But she didn't care. She just wanted to rest.

"I ask again, Zuikaku. What kind of hints?"

Zuikaku twitched as something soft and wet was being pressed hard against her mouth.

"Maybe somethings like that? or this?"

Zuikaku felt something pulling and tugging on her shirt, and shivered when the sensitive skin of her chest was suddenly exposed to the cold open air.

"I didn't plan this, you know."

Enterprise's voice sounded distant to Zuikaku, as if she was far away behind multiple walls.

"But to force me to resolve to such a low method. You're quite despicable, you know that?"

Something touched Zuikaku's chest, something cold, but not entirely unpleasant.

"Well, I guess I'll be having an early thanksgiving this year. How do you Japanese say it again?"

Zuikaku felt that she needed to wake up. Wake up from what? was she asleep now? was she dreaming?

"Oh, that's right."

The waist of Zuikaku's jeans was being pulled down, but pulling it back up would be too much trouble for the dead tired Zuikaku, so she didn't do anything about it.

"Itadakimas~"

Zuikaku's eyes snapped open.

"Oh? Is it dinner already?"

Zuikaku looked around the dark room, letting her eyes adjust. The first thing she noticed was Enterprise's bright red eyes right in front of her. VERY close in front of her.

"Ah...you wake up." said Enterprise, less of an observation of fact and more panicked surprise.

Zuikaku's oxygen-starved, alcohol fueled brain immediately tried to make sense of her situation. Enterprise was sitting open-legged on Zuikaku's stomach, leaning forward and supporting herself against Zuikaku's shoulders with her arms. Her face was a mere inch away from Zuikaku's chest, which was only covered by a thin fabric of her sports bra.

"Are we playing a game?" asked Zuikaku.

"Huh?"

"You're on top of me. Are we playing wrestling?"

"Uh..."

Alcohol made your brain go upside down. Kanmusu alcohol made your brain do three hundred sixty somersaults over the rooftop of the Russian embassy while wearing clown shoes and a pink tutu.

"R..right! we're just playing wrestling!" said Enterprise rapidly.

"Am I losing?" asked Zuikaku from under Enterprise.

"Uh..."

"I hate losing."

Zuikaku suddenly lifted her hips in a jerking motion, launching Enterprise off her and to her side.

"Eek..?!" Enterprise yelped as she landed hard on her own bed. Zuikaku quickly took this brief moment of vulnerability to move and mount Enterprise, completely reversing their situation.

The two carriers lay still for a moment, both trying to comprehend their respective position.

"Uh...Crane..?"

Zuikaku was holding Enterprise down by her wrists. The American carrier tried to struggle out, but Zuikaku pushed down harder, keeping Enterprise's hands near both sides of her head.

"You were doing something to me. Was that the win condition? something like a pin?" asked Zuikaku. Her open shirt was hung like a tent, creating a personal space between her and Enterprise.

"I..."

Enterprise couldn't even think of an answer before Zuikaku pressed her lips against hers.

"Mph..!"

The American carrier squirmed, trying to get her face away from Zuikaku's, only for Zuikaku to follow suit by pressing harder, driving Enterprise's head deep into the bed's cushion.

Enterprise couldn't breathe, she had to open her mouth.

"ha..?!"

Enterprise's entire body jolted when her desperate gasp for air accidentally drew Zuikaku's tongue into her mouth. But instead of drawing it back, Zuikaku followed through, pushing further inside Enterprise.

Zuikaku felt Enterprise's throat shaking. Pushing, swallowing, anything to get the blockage out of her windpipe. But Zuikaku kept her tongue where it was, choking Enterprise as she held her spasming body down.

Finally, after two excruciating minutes, Zuikaku let go of Enterprise. Enterprise let out a loud gasp when she was finally allowed to fill her lungs with fresh air again.

"Did I win?" asked Zuikaku, wiping the errant drool from her chin.

Enterprise was too weak to answer, or even think up of an answer. She was still gasping for air, her chest going up and down erratically. Her mouth was wide open with her tongue sticking out, leaking saliva down the side of her cheek. Her eyes were hollow and teary, looking at the dark ceiling.

 _Click_

The door opened.

"American, the admiral wished for you to..."

The person suddenly stopped, just as anyone would when faced with the scene in front of her.

Zuikaku turned her head, squinting from the sudden light from the corridor.

"Ah...it's Kaga-san..."

Kaga was looking at Zuikaku, then at Enterprise. Her face was frozen in an expression of anger mixed with sheer disgust.

"Huh..?" Zuikaku tilted her head, curious of the newcomer in their game.

Was she here for the game, too? or was she only here to ruin Zuikaku's fun, like usual?

"Hey." Zuikaku called to the older carrier. "Either join in or get out."

For a second, Kaga looked like she was about to say something, with her mouth opening and closing rapidly, but she said nothing. Instead, she looked at Zuikaku and Enterprise as if they were roadside trash, before turning her back and slamming the door.

"What's that about?" said Zuikaku, when she felt Enterprise moving under her, trying to get away.

"Whoa. Almost there."

Enterprise whimpered when Zuikaku caught her wrists again.

"Don't go yet. I don't know why, but I find this game really fun!" Zuikaku laughed. "Now..."

Enterprise was looking up fearfully at Zuikaku, and Zuikaku was enjoying the sight. Because for once she was not the prey, she was the predator, and the American carrier was her meal.

Enterprise let out a small cry when Zuikaku started lifting her shirt.

"...where were we?"


	31. The Chaos After

A wave of constant pain forced Zuikaku to open her eyes.

From the sound of activity, Zuikaku knew that she had overslept. The base was already getting busy, and she could see the morning light being scattered by the window's curtains, bombarding the room with small pillars of light that lit up the dust particles in the air like snowflakes. Zuikaku looked around, but her brain was still too groggy to realize that she was lying on a bed, not her usual futon, and that she wasn't actually in her room.

"Uugh...why do I feel like I've been riding a wild stallion all night?"

Zuikaku had some experience with horses. The admiral had once personally paid for a few of the carriers in her base to undergo Yabusame training, trying to improve their mobile archery skill. The only thing Zuikaku remembered from their sessions was being kicked in the face by a mare in heat, and this morning Zuikaku was somehow feeling worse than that. Whatever horse she had been riding that night must've been particularly frustrated.

"Hm?"

Zuikaku felt a foreign object in her mouth, resting just under her tongue. She put a finger inside and pulled up what seemed to be a strand of human hair. It was golden.

Zuikaku did not have to wonder for long about how that hair got inside her mouth since immediately after, a tired voice called out from beside her.

"Are you awake yet?"

Zuikaku turned her head, and the first thing she saw was a head full of golden hair, peeking out of a thin blanket.

"E...Enterprise?"

"Who else?" Enterprise mumbled. She had her blanket pulled up to her nose, making her sharp red eyes the only thing Zuikaku could actually see. "If you're awake, could you untie me now?"

Enterprise took her hands out of her blanket, and Zuikaku could see that they were bound by the wrist.

"Are those...shoelaces?" asked Zuikaku.

"From my own gym shoes, no less."

"Why would you be tied up by your own shoelaces?"

Enterprise's eyes twitched, looking irritated. "You're asking me? Goodness, you really don't remember, do you?"

"What do you mea..."

Zuikaku words immediately halted when Enterprise rose up, letting her blanket slip from her body.

She was bare.

Except for the shoelaces binding her wrists, there's not a single thread on her body. Zuikaku could see Enterprise's white skin as freely as she could see the back of her own hand. However, Enterprise's skin wasn't as pristine as when Zuikaku had seen them in the bath before, as there were numerous patches of red and sometimes bite mark on her neck, chest, and tights.

The memory rushed back to Zuikaku's consciousness like a flood. The scent, the sensation, the noise. A strong sense of guilt quickly followed.

"Oh crap." Zuikaku could only say.

"Uh-huh." responded Enterprise nonchalantly, her face's locked in a deadpan expression.

Zuikaku had half of mind to simply jump out of the bed and start doing dogeza, but her mouth moved faster than the rest of her body.

"I'm sorry." Zuikaku said softly.

Enterprise's face didn't change.

"Just untie me, would you? I don't want to break them." demanded Enterprise, bringing her hands forward.

"R...right!"

Zuikaku hurriedly reached for the laces that bound Enterprise's wrists, but found herself struggling.

"You're good at knotting." said Enterprise suddenly.

Surprised, Zuikaku didn't know how to respond.

"Well, heh, I'm a sailor after all." said Zuikaku, trying to not sound awkward and failing.

Zuikaku fingers slipped, stabbing a nail right into the flesh of Enterprise's hand.

"Ouch."

"Sorry."

Zuikaku tried to concentrate on untying Enterprise's hands, but her mind kept wandering.

"Did I hurt you?" asked Zuikaku.

"No, it's fine."

"I mean before this."

"Ah..."

Enterprise turned her face away, looking shy.

"Well, your enthusiasm clearly surpassed your skill."

"Ukh..."

Really, Zuikaku couldn't have expected any better from her first, questionably consensual deed, but she still felt a sting to her pride.

"Was it painful?" Zuikaku asked, even though she feared the answer.

Enterprise's eyes turned to Zuikaku. The rest of her face were still turned away.

"It was at first, but at the end...at the end..."

Enterprise's face quickly flushed as she remembered her night, but Zuikaku didn't notice as she was still struggling with what's presumably her own knot.

"L-Let's not talk about that for now."

Zuikaku nodded silently.

After a while, Zuikaku finally managed to untangle the two shoelaces that held Enterprise's hands.

"Finally." said Enterprise as she rubbed her pained wrists. Zuikaku could clearly see the red marks where the laces used to dig into Enterprise's skin.

"Sorry...again." said Zuikaku meekly.

Enterprise bit her lower lip, obviously deliberating her next words. The two carriers were silent for a while before Enterprise finally opened her mouth.

"Let's just keep this a secret, okay?" said Enterprise, her voice almost begging.

"That'd be for the best, yeah." Zuikaku agreed. "Should I leave now?"

"Wait for me to get dressed before you open the door. The corridor is rather busy." said Enterprise, making Zuikaku painfully aware of the sound of constant footsteps from behind the door.

That's when Zuikaku noticed something strange. She's still fully clothed.

"Uh...why am I not naked?" asked Zuikaku, immediately feeling silly after saying it.

"You didn't need to be." said Enterprise, visibly irritated. "you were the one doing all the work. I couldn't even touch you."

"I don't understand."

"Good."

Enterprise moved to the edge of the bed and tried to stand up, but her legs crumbled and she fell on her knees instead.

"Shit."

"Are you alright?" asked Zuikaku worriedly, her hand already reaching towards Enterprise.

Enterprise swiped Zuikaku's hand away. "It's alright. My hips just gave, that's all."

Enterprise shakily stood up, and Zuikaku unconsciously averted her eyes, accidentally seeing the clock on the wall.

Eleven in the morning. Zuikaku's last memory from yesterday was entering Enterprise's room at one in the afternoon. If her mind wasn't so scrambled, Zuikaku would probably be impressed by herself, but right now her utmost concern was trying to make up an excuse to the admiral about her near twenty-four hours absence.

"The bath should be empty at this hour, right?" said Enterprise as she put on a shirt.

"Uh, maybe. Why?"

"I'd rather that no one else sees my bare skin today, if you understand what I mean."

Enterprise took out a plain black hoodie from her cabinet and put it on, lifting the hood so that it covered most of her head including the plainly visible bite mark on her neck.

"Ah...right...those."

"It should be back to normal if I stayed in the bath for an hour. Would be hard to explain if anyone came in, though."

Zuikaku summoned her courage before uttering her next words.

"Would you like me to come with you?"

Enterprise looked at Zuikaku confusedly, then her confusion turned into surprise and Zuikaku could see a shade of crimson quickly rising on Enterprise's cheeks.

"it...It's not like that..!" Zuikaku immediately clarified. "I mean...I could help guard the door, make sure nobody comes in..."

Enterprise stared at Zuikaku in silence.

"If...only if you wanted me to, of course."

Enterprise turned her hand into a fist, and for a moment Zuikaku thought that she was about to punch her. But then Enterprise put her hands safely inside her jacket pockets and shrugged.

"Sure."

Enterprise approached the door without any more word, and after making sure that the space in front of her room was empty and that no one would see her and Zuikaku coming out of her room together with crumpled clothes, she signaled for Zuikaku to follow her out of the room. They immediately started to make their way to the docking area, trying to avoid eye contact with ships and other personnel they met along the way. Zuikaku noticed that a lot of them were giving the two carriers strange looks as they both walked along the corridor, but Enterprise either didn't realize or actively trying to ignore them.

Enterprise and Zuikaku were about to turn a corner when the carrier Katsuragi suddenly appeared.

"Ah...senpai..."

Katsuragi looked at Zuikaku, and then at Enterprise.

...and then tears started running down her cheeks.

Zuikaku, being the good senior she was, immediately tried to approach the young carrier, only for Katsuragi to turn away and bolted, disappearing around the corner.

"What's with her?" asked Enterprise.

"I...I don't know..."

"Let's just go."

Zuikaku and Enterprise continued walking until they met the carrier Shoukaku.

"Ah, Shoukaku- _nee_." greeted Zuikaku.

Shoukaku smiled when she saw Zuikaku, but then her expression changed when she saw Enterprise.

"Ah. Good morning, Miss Enterprise. My name is Shoukaku." stuttered Shoukaku, bowing ever so slightly.

"Good morning." Enterprise gave a warm smile. "I remember you."

"Right...uh..." Shoukaku scratched the back of her head, seemingly hesitant.

"You want to say something?" Enterprise tilted her head. "Go on. I don't bite."

"W-well, then..." Shoukaku swallowed. "Miss Enterprise, I know that you already have a great older sister, but I will at least try to live up to Yorktown and become a great older sister for you too!"

Shoukaku then bowed furiously, so much that for a moment Zuikaku thought that she was about to headbutt the floor.

"I-I wish you two happiness!" shouted Shoukaku before she bolted off.

"What." said Enterprise flatly.

Her answer immediately came in the form of a certain admiral.

"Ah, Miss Enterprise, Zuikaku. I was just looking for you." said the admiral. "Can we talk?"

"Huh? sure." answered Enterprise.

"Good."

The admiral then dragged Zuikaku and Enterprise to a dark corner in the dorm, away from the rest of the occupants.

"Look, you two..." the admiral started. "knowing you, you probably tried to be as quiet as possible but...I just want you to know that you might be a little too spirited."

"Huh?" Enterprise and Zuikaku uttered in unison.

"Ah, you didn't realize. Of course."

"I...I don't know what you mean." said Enterprise, but her expression showed that she knew exactly where the admiral was going with this.

"Miss Enterprise, I was at a press conference in a building quite far away from here, and I'm pretty sure some of the many, many microphones there picked up on your, uh, voice."

"W-what..."

Enterprise's face started to redden.

"Also, some of them were doing direct broadcast, so a good portion of the world population probably heard you."

"I...I...I wasnt..."

To put it simply, Enterprise was basically a tomato at this point.

"...and although I personally don't mind it, the higher ups are probably going to chew me out for the PR disaster. So maybe consider going to a dimly lit shop and get a ball-gag or something before your next session, eh?"

Now it's Zuikaku's turn to blush.

"B-ball gag?"

"Might as well add some flavor to it." the admiral shrugged. "Anyway, I'm going downtown to do some damage control with Naka. You two try to keep it down, please."

The admiral then simply walked away, leaving Zuikaku and Enterprise flustering together in a dark corner.

Zuikaku looked at Enterprise. She couldn't see her face clearly due to the hood covering her head.

"Uh...E? You okay?"

Ah.

She ran away.


	32. We'll Need a Flowchart

**A/N: So this will be the first time we move away from Zuikaku's perspective. I've been trying to stay with Zuikaku so far, but apparently, it's too much more of a limitation than I could work with.**

 **cheers**

xxx

* * *

xxx

Saratoga had been enjoying her time in Japan so far, which at first came as a surprise especially after her colorful entrance. She had expected a lot more accosting and hazing from the Japanese ships, and although there were some that actively avoided her, the ones that actually dared to speak to her had been very accommodating, so much that Saratoga almost regretted that she couldn't stay for long.

The JMSDF had been working together with the USN. This allowed Saratoga's initial training and equipping to be done by the more experienced JMSDF. But sooner or later she had to sail for Pearl to be reassigned according to the American interest.

To be honest, Saratoga was going to miss Japan. In the short time she had been in this small island country that's barely bigger than the state of California, she had accumulated enough good experience to almost completely washed away her grudge from the war. Saratoga remembered when the names of the ships that now slept under the same roof as her were merely targets on a map in her CIC. But today she could put names to faces, and some Japanese ships even took the trouble to explain the meaning of their names to her! Saratoga was amazed by how the Japanese could put so much meaning in so few letters.

The aircraft carrier Zuikaku was probably the one Saratoga would remember the most, ever since she...welcomed her second arrival into this world. Before this, Saratoga would never have dreamed that she would consider a Japanese ship to be a closer friend to her than most Americans. But here she was, thinking about a Japanese capital ship. In fact, she couldn't stop thinking about her for some reason.

Saratoga looked at the mirror on her wall and saw her own face blushing. She immediately shook her head furiously, before jumping on her bed and burying her face into the pillow, screaming silently.

"Ugh...having a heart is such a pain..." Saratoga groaned. It was not enough that she had to breathe manually now, she also had to deal with a fist-sized organ constantly slamming against her interior like a jackhammer.

Saratoga was still trying to calm herself when her door was knocked three times.

"Who's there?"

"It's Ryuujou."

Ryuujou? From all of the Japanese ships Saratoga had met, Ryuujou seemed to be the most distant. Though perhaps tt was to be expected.

"Coming."

Saratoga opened her door...and was suddenly greeted by the sweet smell of a freshly baked cake.

Saratoga looked down and was immediately faced by the top of a small, brown-haired head. the rest of the girl's face was covered by a wide-brimmed hat, so Saratoga's eyes were immediately drawn to the cake the girl was holding. In a single glance, Saratoga immediately knew that the cake was meant for her.

"Can I come in?" the girl said with a high-pitched voice that matched her child-like figure.

Saratoga paused, but then she smiled warmly and opened her door wider.

"Sure." said Saratoga as she moved out of the way, letting the carrier Ryuujou entered her domain.

"So...is that what you were working on this morning?" inquired Saratoga as Ryuujou put the cake on her desk.

"Aye." Ryuujou answered shortly. "How's Zuikaku doing, by the way?"

Saratoga chuckled. "Honestly she was more likely to cut open the pearly gate of heaven than the potato in her own hand."

"That bad, huh?"

"She got a lot better after some harsh tutoring from me."

"Well, then I look forward to your judgment then."

Ryuujou took out a plastic disposable plate from under her coat and, in contrast to that, a short Japanese blade sheathed in a beautifully crafted holder made from black lacquered wood, decorated with a golden eastern dragon, circling the blade like a vine.

"You're going to use a katana to cut a cake?"

Ryuujou tilted her head, confused.

"It's a tanto." Ryuujou said, as if it was obvious.

"Of course it is." said Saratoga, slightly embarrassed.

Ryuujou offered the blade to Saratoga. "Would you?"

"Sure."

Saratoga received the blade and drew it. It certainly wasn't stainless steel.

"This is a very good blade. You sure you want to use it?"

Ryuujou nodded firmly. "It's fine. I enjoy the concept of a weapon of war being used for things other than killing."

"R...right."

Saratoga approached the cake. It was in no way extraordinary except for the frosting.

On the top of the cake, drawn in colorful creams, was a cartoony picture of Saratoga and Ryuujou's face, smiling cheerfully. Below that, delicately written in cursive with melted chocolate, were words that seemed to force Saratoga to smile every time she read it.

 **'NO HARD FEELINGS!'**

Saratoga smiled wider, almost grinning. "Quite an artist aren't you?"

Ryuujou responded to the compliment by hiding her face under her hat.

"It's just that I often draw with the destroyers. Making up story and such." Ryuujou said shyly.

"Oh? what kind of story?" asked Saratoga as she cut into the cake, careful not to cut her own face or Ryuujou's. "Story about your heroics maybe? Epic warfare? teaching them tactics while at the same time entertaining them?"

That what Saratoga would do, anyway. But Ryuujou seemed to be surprised by her answer.

"Uhh...no. We already have enough of that. I often tell stories about peaceful farmers living under the watchful eyes of the gods."

"That sounds mundane."

"It's not like there are no conflicts. But my protagonists always use their brains instead of direct aggression." Ryuujou raised her face, her eyes looking directly at Saratoga. "I've been exploded one too many times to be excited by violence anymore, Miss Saratoga."

Saratoga gulped. "I see."

Saratoga put a thin piece of cake on the plastic plate, and Ryuujou pulled out a plastic spoon.

"Here you go."

Saratoga received the spoon and started digging in. It was slightly too sweet, and she used too many eggs, but it was delicious nonetheless.

"Sorry if it's bad. It's my first time trying something like this." Ryuujou apologized.

Saratoga swallowed. "No. It's amazing."

Ryuujou's face brightened up for a moment before she immediately hid it under her massive hat.

"You have potential. I could teach you a thing or two if you'd like."

"I would love that." said Ryuujou softly. "A-Anyway, I need to prepare an ASW patrol, so if you excuse me..."

Ryuujou was already walking towards the door when Saratoga tried to stop her.

"Ah! You forget your knife!" shouted Saratoga, grabbing the tanto.

"Keep it." said Ryuujou, her hand already on the door handle. "It wouldn't do much against an Abyssal, but I like to think that it could protect you someday. Goodbye."

Before Saratoga could stop her, Ryuujou had already disappeared behind the door, leaving Saratoga holding onto a thousand-dollar knife covered in cream.

Saratoga immediately reached for her phone, a convenient little thing that the admiral had given to her the previous day. She at least needed to know how to clean the blade properly.

"Let's see...tanto...tanto..."

Saratoga had been in the twenty-first century for a while, but she was still a little shocked when the answer to her question came up in mere seconds.

"Hmm...Japanese blade dating back to the Heian period, historically worn by the samurai class. Often classified as a tactical knife, mainly used for stabbing..."

...also traditionally given to a bride on her wedding night as a symbol of purity.

An interesting fact, but kind of irrelevant at the moment.

Saratoga moved to other site and found a comprehensive instruction on sword cleaning. After ensuring that she wouldn't ruin the blade, Saratoga continued eating the cake. It was quite a large cake, but she's a carrier, just like the other ex-battlecruiser in the base. Soon the only thing left of the cake was Ryuujou's face.

Saratoga took a long look at the last bit of the cake, unwilling to cut into it. She then sighed as she realized how silly she was being before moving in to finish her meal.

"Ehehe..." Saratoga chuckled to herself as she cut into Ryuujou's face. "I found another friend."


	33. The Silent Service

**A/N: So the timeline will go somewhat nonlinear for the next couple of chapters. I just realized that I haven't been giving the rest of the base enough characterization. Maybe I should've broken off from Zuikaku's perspective a long time ago.**

 **So this is basically me trying to catch up to the neglect of my characters via a lot of short stories. I'll do it as fast as possible.**

 **Cheers and sorry.**

xxx

* * *

xxx

"Now, the first thing you wanna do is to get the key card to your room." said Iku, pointing at the screen. "The receptionist is at the right side of the lobby."

"Got it." said Albacore, wiggling the controller sticks. The bald man on the screen promptly followed Albacore's instruction and went to the receptionist booth. After a short cutscene, he retrieved a key card for a room on the seventh floor.

"Have you ever been to Vegas?" asked Iku nonchalantly.

"Nah. But I reckon that a girl like you could get an easy job there."

"Excuse me?"

"That was a joke."

"Good, because I'd almost kicked you out of my room."

"Sorry."

"Whatever."

Iku leaned backward, her bountiful breasts bounced as her back made an impact with the wall.

"What are you looking at?" accused Iku.

Iku was wearing something you'd expect a girl would wear in her own room, but Albacore couldn't help but felt that the Japanese submarine must have broken a few indecency laws, with her short shorts and a wifebeater that fit her body snuggly except for the chest area, where flesh was noticeably spilling out. Also she's obviously not wearing anything under.

"Uh...nothing." said Albacore dishonestly.

"Just go to the elevators."

Albacore did so.

"Now, there are only two elevators in this hotel. The first target always took the left one, but I like to put a detonator on the other one just to be sure."

Albacore ordered the bald man to go to the right side elevator, climbed the hatch on the top, and put a remote detonator on top of the carriage.

"Now go to the other one and get the fiber wire ready." ordered Iku, which Albacore dutifully followed.

"Check your map. the target will be here soon."

A small window pop-up appeared on the screen, depicting a man in a green sweater entering the lobby. Albacore kept watching the map until the man in green entered the elevator.

"Choke him!"

The bald man, perched on top of the elevator hatch, swiftly swung around a piano cable around the neck of the man below him, pulling the man up.

"Good. Now get his keycard. You can leave your sniper rifle for now."

The bald man dropped the black suitcase he had been carrying so far on top of the elevator carriage, together with the dead body of the man in green.

With the eight floor key card in hand, the bald man dropped from the hatch, taking the man's suitcase with him.

"You don't want to get out yet. first, go to your room and put the suitcase there, just to be save."

Albacore ordered the bald man to go back to the seventh floor and find his own room.

"Agency dropout. You don't need anything right now, but an extra bomb is always nice. Now go back up top. get your rifle."

"No disguise necessary, huh?"

"If you do it right, no." said Iku.

The bald man went back to the elevator, picked up his rifle, and back to the eight floor.

"Now, you want to get to the other target's room. Go west."

Albacore followed Iku's instruction to the letter and and ended in front of a heavily guarded room.

"As you can see you can't simply rush in, but if you sound the alarm and then use the secret passage on the left..."

Albacore did so, and soon she ended up facing the back of her target in his own room.

"Why didn't he get out when I sounded the alarm?" asked Albacore.

Iku shrugged. "Damn if I know."

"Poison syringe or fiber wire?"

"Always use fiber wire if you have the option."

The bald man quickly disposed of his next target.

"Hide him in the bathroom before his bodyguards come back."

"Way ahead of you."

"Good. Now you want to get through the other door in the bathroom. It leads to the bedroom where you'll have a vantage point of our second to last target ."

"Sniper rifle out."

The bald man quickly took out and reassembled his sniper rifle from his black suitcase.

"See that phone over there? redial it." followed Iku.

"Got it. What should I say?"

"Nothing. The sultan will just get out onto that alleyway for some reason."

"Odd, but hey, easy kill."

Albacore pressed a button, and the camera view on the screen promptly changed.

"Heh." uttered Iku.

"Hm? what?"

"Looking down the scope at an unsuspecting target." said Iku, smiling.

Albacore smiled back. "Feels familiar, doesn't it?"

After a while, a man in a stereotypical sheik garment went out to the alley within the view of Albacore's scope. The man was soon dead, courtesy of a silenced sniper rifle.

"Our last target should be easy to shoot from where you are. His room is on the seventh floor."

Albacore re-aimed, found her target, fired, and soon a notification appeared that told her that all targets had been eliminated.

"HA! SILENT ASSASSIN!" Albacore shouted un-silently.

"Not yet. You still need to get out of here. there is a single bodyguard in the room you were just in. Prepare sedative."

Albacore told the bald man on the screen to sneak up back through the bathroom and approached said bodyguard from the back, exactly the same exact way his patron was killed just minutes before.

"Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep you little suited bitch~" Albacore sang, forcing Iku to hold down a chuckle.

"Now, go to the balcony and jumped to the neighboring room."

"Gotcha."

Under Albacore's command, the man on the screen jumped to the next room's balcony, not even fearing the eight floors drop below.

"There's a civilian here. sneak up through the bathroom."

"On it."

Albacore told the man to sneak into the bathroom. She opened the door at the other side and...

"OH SHIT!" shouted Albacore.

"Bad timing for a bathroom break."

"SHITSHIT-"

BANGBANGBANG.

"Okay, is there any reason behind you using an unsilenced MP5 to kill a civilian when you had the Silverballers?"

"FUCKING HELL!" shouted Albacore in pure panic, ignoring Iku completely.

"Well, if you want to go out guns blazing, the exit is in the basement, through the casino."

"GO TO HELL ALL OF YOU!" shouted Albacore as she started gunning down the guards.

She reached the elevator, and as soon as the doors were opened to the lobby, all hell broke loose.

"HERE! HAVE SOME FREEDOMS!" she said as she tossed a remote explosive at a group of civilians.

"Downstair." commanded Iku. "To the left."

Many digital dead bodies later, the bald man entered a dark alleyway where a car had been waiting. A cutscene played and the result screen appeared.

"Shit." Albacore cursed as she looked at her score.

"Mass murderer huh? how appropriate."

"What do you mean?" said Albacore, still catching her breath.

"Well, you did kill a lot of people."

Albacore smiled, then proceeded looked at Iku directly in the eyes.

"Well yeah...so did you, buddy." Albacore said in a snide tone.

Albacore meant that as a joke, but she immediately regretted it when Iku's face started changing. For a moment Albacore thought that the Japanese submarine was about to pull out her deck gun and shoot her in the face, but instead, she only gave out a disappointed sigh.

"Indeed, I did kill a lot of people." said Iku slowly. "That's why I play this game. I have the option to be just as murderous as you, or as I was, but I choose not to."

Iku leaned lower on the wall, and her lips turned into a sad smile.

"It's nice to finally have an option." she finally said.

Albacore looked at her fellow submarine. For what felt like an eternity she did not know what to say. It was only after a while that she finally decided to open her mouth.

"Hey, Jap."

"Yeah?"

Iku rose up, turned her head, and was suddenly faced with Albacore's offered hand.

"Friends?"

Iku looked at Albacore the way one would look at a freak show, but then she gave her a smile, a genuine one this time.

"Friends." Iku declared as she took Albacore's hand.

"Good." Albacore smiled wider. "Another level then?"

xxx

* * *

xxx

 **Kudos for those who actually recognized the level!**

 **Cheers!**


	34. Former Enemies and Age Gap

**A/N: I love yuri.** *raise fist in shameless pride*

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

* * *

"Fascist!" screamed Warspite.

"Hag!" shouted Bismarck.

"Bloody pillocks." Kongou sighed behind the door.

Kongou could hear furious footsteps coming closer and closer to the door, which was rather impressive considering Warspite's weakened legs. The door opened, and Kongou was faced with Warspite's irritated face.

...of which Kongou knew was fake.

The moment the door closed, Warspite's expression quickly changed, from angry to sad, and then tears started getting involved.

"Waaaaaah~" Warspite cried, looking absolutely pathetic inside of her royal gown.

"Well, that could've gone better." snarked Kongou in English.

Warspite wiped her tears and put a hand on her mouth, trying to muffle her own crying.

"I-I don't know what came over me! I just suddenly said all of those hurtful things to her and-"

"I know, I know." Kongou raised her hand, stopping Warspite from rambling. Being the oldest ship in the base for so long meant that Kongou had quite the experience giving love advice, and from all the younger ships that had asked for her help, Kongou had alway found the tsundere types to be the most painful to deal with.

"The problem is that you have the pride of a mountain lion yet the romantic sensibility and confidence of a drunken gibbon spawn." Kongou began. "I do have a few pieces of advice, But let's not do it in the hallway, alright? Let's go to my room."

"Mmh..."

Kongou was about to lead Warspite to her room when the towering battleship Iowa appeared, the top of her head barely missing the ceiling.

"Bongo!" Iowa rushed forward, trapping Kongou in a big, muscular hug. "I got an MVP medal from the admiral!"

"Hey, big girl. Missed you too." Kongou smiled, returning Iowa's hug.

Iowa let go of Kongou, and then her face suddenly turned naughty.

"Would you not give me a gift for my...remarkable performance?" said Iowa, one hand touching her tongue and one hand on her bosom.

"Later, girl. Right now, I need to help a friend." said Kongou, gesturing towards Warspite who's currently blushing at the sight of the two battleships.

"Oh?" uttered Iowa, who's seemingly only just made aware of Warspite's presence.

"Hi, granny!" Iowa waved cheerfully, not noticing Warspite's twitching eyebrow as she said that.

"Iowa dear, she's the same age as me." said Kongou.

"Whoops."

"Uh, If you two are busy, I could come back later..." stuttered Warspite. She was already starting to turn away when Kongou stopped her.

"Don't. Iowa is exactly who I need to teach you a thing or two. Let's go to my room."

"Oh, my." Iowa smiled with stars in her eyes, both literally and figuratively. "Are we doing it with the three of us?"

"Blimey heck, girl! no!" shouted a flustered Kongou. Meanwhile, Warspite had no idea what they were talking about.

After a bit of slow walking due to Warspite's legs, the three battleships entered Kongou's room. Kongou's current room was bigger than the room of either Iowa or Warspite, since the base was expecting more of the Kongou-class battleships to be transferred in. Meanwhile, Kongou had a free reign of the room and she certainly had made full use of the extra space. Without her sisters here to protest, Kongou had filled the walls, desks, cabinets and almost every surface of the room with British-flavored paraphernalia. Doctor Who, Blackadder, and Thunderbirds posters covered every inch of the walls. Her desk was littered with pictures of British landmarks such as the Buckingham Palace and the Trafalgar Square, alongside, oddly enough, a plastic model of herself as a steel ship.

"Say, Warspite. Is there any chance for my name to be immortalized in Vickerstown?" asked Kongou as the three entered the room.

"Uh...I wouldn't know..."

"Tch."

Kongou sat down on her bed that was covered in a sakura motif sheet, the only Japanese-flavored thing in her room. Iowa immediately sat beside her and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

"Shush, not now. Warspite, take a seat please."

Warspite took a seat on a comfortable looking padded seat Kongou was gesturing at, glad that she's finally able to rest her legs.

"Now, Warspite, tell us what you were trying to do."

"W...well..."

"Go on." Kongou prodded.

Warspite visibly tried to compose herself, but when she opened her mouth, her voice was still stilted.

"This day is the day of Bismarck's launching...her birthday, you could say."

"Uh-huh. So?"

"Well...I wanted to give her a gift..."

"Oh! What kind of gift?" Iowa leaned forward like a child in front of a very good storyteller.

"Uhh...a pendant...a copper poppy..."

"Metal is strong, copper ages well, and poppies are...well, poppies." explained Kongou. "Then what happened?"

"I...I..."

"You cocked it up."

Warspite shook her head. "I don't know what happened! we just suddenly started talking about the third Reich and..." Warspite slammed her face against her palm. "I'm an Idiot."

"No, you're not. Just a clueless bint."

Warspite raised her face, looking slightly offended. "Oh? then what do you suppose I should do, then?"

"Well, first thing is to look her in the eyes..." Kongou raised a finger in a sagely manner. "...and then call yourself a blithering knobhead."

Warspite now looked confused. "w...what?"

"You heard me." Kongou folded her arms. "The key to any relationship, whether it's friendship or love, is the understanding of shortcomings, whether they're your partner's or your own."

"s...shortcomings?"

"Yes. For example, you're an overly prideful blue blood and she's...well, she's a NAZI."

"Most of the Kriegsmarine weren't NAZI, though." said Iowa.

"Iowa, she had a swastika painted on her arse."

"hmm...true."

"Anyway." Kongou turned her attention back to Warspite. "After you're done apologizing, the next step is to be honest with yourself. Say that you want to be her friend. or at least to not be her enemy." Koungou lifted an arm, slithering them over Iowa's shoulders and nape. "When you can touch her like this without feeling awkward, then you know that you're doing fine. After that, well..."

Kongou used her free hand to pull Iowa's chin down, meeting her lips with her own.

"... you'll be able to do a lot more." Kongou whispered, her lips barely apart from Iowa's. Iowa herself was silent, her eyes looking far in a blissful trance.

Faced with the sudden spectacle in front of her, Warspite froze up. But then Kongou saw her knuckles tightening over her knees, before her face sprung up with renewed determination.

"Sorry, but I must go."

Warspite struggled to get back on her feet, but then, without waiting for permission, she rushed through the door at a slightly faster pace than usual, closing the door behind her.

"Godspeed, you sweet, sweet lass."

"You think she got it?" said Iowa, just awoke from her daze.

Kongou sighed.

"We can only hope."


	35. A Failure?

The destroyer Akebono was not a cheerful girl. In most days people would rarely see her smile at all, and the addition of the American ships to the base's roster seemingly only served to make her frown even more pronounced.

It's not like she particularly hated American ships. For her, the bombs and other ordnances the Americans had thrown at her were merely yet another pieces of crap added on top of the giant pile of bullshits she had already received from her own side. It's just that Americans, at least to her ears, were really loud, and after being assigned night patrol duty for seven consecutive weeks, constantly dodging nearly invisible torpedoes fired by ninja submarines, Akebono just wanted some peaceful rest.

She was heading towards the galley looking for a warm glass of milk to help her sleep when she heard the very loud voices of the American destroyers, singing a battle anthem of some sort.

...at two in the morning.

 _We have seen our aircraft carriers!_  
 _We have heard the cruisers roar!_  
 _We've seen our battlewagons sweeping everything before!_  
 _But woe's aboard this tin can 'till the goddamn war is o'er..!_  
 _Well, we through going to sea no more!_

"...brats." Akebono mumbled under her breath as she walked into the galley and saw almost all of the American destroyers in the base present, all standing near a table. There were chairs, but they were ignored as the Americans chose to sit on the floor or on the table itself.

 _Submariners get the glory when they come home from the scrap,_  
 _Landing craft men get promotions while the Seabees get a nap!_  
 _Aviators get the medals, tin can sailors get the crap!_  
 _We ain't going to sea no more!_

"...how annoying." whispered Akebono as she approached the big fridge in the room, apparently invisible to the American destroyers.

 _There is rust upon the fo'c'sle, there is soot upon our stacks,_  
 _There is fuel oil in our bilge and salt upon our depth charge racks,_  
 _Barnacles on our bottom, and we got'em in our cracks!_  
 _Well, we ain't going to sea no more!_

Fortunately the galley was quite separated from the dorm, otherwise someone would've shot them by now.

 _When Marines and troops are landing, and the going's gettin' rough,_  
 _Then the call goes out for tin cans,"Shell the beach and make it tough!"_  
 _Then the papers praise the cruisers, and the tin cans take the guff..._  
 _Well, we ain't going to sea no more!_

Akebono just turned on the kettle when the Americans finally stopped singing.

"You see, maybe we destroyers are so underappreciated because we do too well of a job." said one of the destroyers. USS Johnston, maybe. Akebono never bothered to remember their names. "They take our service for granted. Maybe we should organize a strike."

"What, you want to make a union?" said one other destroyer. Her name was O'Bannon if Akebono remembered correctly. "Do it like the dutch? Having our soldiers given mandatory nine to five work hours?"

Johnston squirmed. "Being compared to those jackasses? No! I just want a wage raise or something."

"And what are you going to use the extra plunder for, mate? buying a dozen of brand new knickers?" said USS Kidd, whose massive hat had written itself on Akebono's subconscious.

"Guns, of course!" said Johnston. "So many had changed since the last time our boilers burned. I want to try all these new things the army came up with."

"You'd only be able to get the civilian versions, though." said O'bannon.

"And that's bull. I have fully automatic cannons already. why would I need a license for a rifle?"

Another destroyer chuckled.

"Well, even if people look down on us, we can at least feel content knowing that we're not Willie." barging USS Black.

Hearing that name mentioned, another destroyer in the pack visibly reacted.

"Huh?" uttered a girl who's presumably 'Willie'.

"Ah, yes. A vessel so unlucky she could fall through a tunnel full of tits and still ended up sucking on an ass." said Kidd.

"Wh...I..."

"Eheh...hate to say this, Dee, but if you weren't such a moron you'd probably have been accused of treason." said Black.

'Willie' tried to respond, to react in any way to her supposed friends mocking her, but the poor girl seemingly froze in place, mouth simply moving silently like a fish out of water.

"Hey, you know what? with a name like D. Porter..." said Johnston, pausing her words to build up suspense among her peers. "She should be a coast guard ship!"

"OOOOOOOOHHHHH!"

Most of the American destroyers suddenly burst into a violent bout of laughter. Some cackling so madly that it looked painful, some slapping their knees in a jestful manner. William D. Porter certainly wasn't laughing, though.

"Damn, someone get a salve for that sick burn...I'm sorry, Porter." said O'bannon.

It was too late, however, since William D. Porter were already running towards the door.

"Shite. Were we being too harsh to the poor lass?" said Kidd, looking genuinely guilty.

"Yeah, you should apologize, Johnston."

"Wh...why me?!"

"Well, you gave the finishing blow."

"Well, you started it!"

"I'm just trying to start and idle conversation. You escalated it."

"Maybe O'Bannon should go. She's the leader." said Kidd.

"Whoa, wait a minute! Just because I'm the best destroyer around doesn't mean you could just dump your responsibilities on me!"

"Hey! who declared you the best?!" shouted Johnston.

"The fricking POTUS, for one."

The American destroyers suddenly returned to their noisy bickering, almost as if they had already forgotten that they're now short one member. Meanwhile, Akebono stood and watch with a glass of warm milk in her hands,

The doors to the galley were still swinging from Porter basically crashing into them when Akebono finally left. The American destroyers either didn't know or didn't care that she was ever there with them at all, and Akebono preferred it that way.

Akebono thought that her problems for the morning were done and dealt with when she saw that William D. Porter had not run for long. Just a couple of meters from the galley's exit, Akebono saw the American destroyer curling in a ball near a dark corner of the corridor, sobbing almost silently.

"Ignore her...ignore her..." Akebono chanted a mantra. She almost managed to disappear around another corner when a particularly hard sob suddenly tugged at her conscience. "Dammit."

Akebono turned on her heel, wondering all the way if she's going to regret this particular life decision later.

Without a word, Akebono moved to Porter's side, leaning her back on the wall.

Realizing a presence, Porter looked up with her swollen eyes, the color red had almost completely overwhelmed the hazel of her irises. When she saw Akebono's face, she pushed her face back into her knees, disappearing under her pinkish hair.

"Go away." she said with a muffled voice.

Contrary to the request, Akebono let her back slid down along the wall until her skirt touched the floor.

"I'm sitting next to you. If you want to think we're sitting together, be my guest." Akebono said in a flat voice.

A moment went by while the two destroyers sat in silence before Porter finally showed her face again.

"what do you want?" Porter grumbled.

"Absolutely nothing. It's just a hobby of mine to sit in the dark with a crying girl two hours past midnight."

Porter raised her shoulders, trying to look angry at Akebono but ended up looking like a particularly smashed chipmunk with cheeks overstuffed with nuts.

"Wow, you really do look like a moron." said Akebono.

Porter promptly buried her face back in her knees again.

"Go ahead, insult me, like they always do."

Akebono looked up, giving one of her rare smiles to the ceiling. "Gotta admit, the tits and ass joke was rather hilarious."

Akebono could just see Porter's lips shaking under her hair.

"Enough money to feed a man for life went down the drain to create me, only for me to end up the butt of many jokes about how useless a ship could be."

Akebono did not speak back. At times like this, one need only to listen.

"You know, if given the choice, I would rather not join the navy after my summoning." continued Porter, sniveling. "I messed up enough for two lifetimes."

After a silence, Akebono finally decided to speak back.

"Where would you be, then? If not in the Navy?" Akebono asked nonchalantly, her eyes looking at the far side wall.

"Well... since I remember my crew's training...maybe become a plumber?" said Porter, laughing sadly. "Oh, who am I kidding. I'll flood half of Nebraska."

"Maybe." said Akebono. "'side, you're a bit on the cute side for a plumber."

That last bit caught Porter's attention.

"...huh?"

"Just couldn't imagine you bending under someone's sink with your polka dot panties hanging out." said Akebono, but then her eyes suddenly emptied as she drew an image in her mind. "Oh, wait. I could."

Realizing what the Japanese destroyer was doing, Porter immediately put her hands on her skirt, making sure her legs were completely covered.

"H...how did you know?"

"Huh?"

"How did you know they're polka dot?"

Akebono raised her face, unbelieving of her luck.

"Holy shit. Really?"

Even in the darkness, Akebono could clearly see Porter's face changing color.

"I...I mea-, That wasn't..!" stuttered porter, starting to hyperventilate.

Looking at the flustered American destroyer, Akebono gave a genuine laugh.

"Heh. You need to calm down. In more ways than one, even. Here, take a deep breath..."

Akebono offered her glass, which Porter almost subconsciously took. One sip later, Porter had a faint white mustache visible on her lips.

"Ah..."

"I'm sorry. You don't like milk?"

"N...no, it's delicious, it's just...I just realized that I don't know your name yet."

"Oh." Akebono nodded. "It's Akebono. It means 'Daybreak' in your language."

"Uh, I'm William D. Porter, it means...someone who carries your luggage around."

Porter looked down at her toes, embarrassed.

Akebono chuckled. "Nice to meet you, Porter."

"Uh... nice to meet you too. 'Bono."

"Bono?"

Porter suddenly jittered. "Ah! sorry! I just thought that your name was a bit too long. If you don't like it..."

"No, no, it's fine. You can call me whatever you like."

After that short introduction, silence once more befell the two girls. Porter was looking down at her glass as if she's admiring the white surface reflecting the little amount of light in the corridor.

"Has any ship in your navy tried to assassinate the emperor?" Porter suddenly asked.

Akebono made a slightly weirded out face, and Porter sighed.

"Guess it's just me then."

"You make it sound like you've tried to assassinate your president."

Porter glanced at Akebono with dead-looking eyes.

"Oh, wow. Accident?"

"Torpedo training went wrong."

"Oh."

"Also I got drunk once, ended up bombarding the admiral's petunia. These were all when I still had my steel body, by the way."

Akebono nodded sagely. "Sound like something that would get your entire crew court-martialed."

"They did, but the president forgave us."

Porter cleared her throat.

"'I heard that all of you jackasses tried to kill me. I haven't had that much fun since polio.'" said Porter, imitating the voice of an old man.

"He really said that?"

"No, but he might as well did." Porter looked down at her toes again.

Akebono moved into a more relaxed sitting position, leaning further down the wall. "You know what I'm thinking?"

"What?"

"I think you're trying too hard."

Porter looked at Akebono, tilting her head. "What do you mean?"

Akebono sighed. "Well, from my own personal experience? It really doesn't matter how good of a job you do. All it's going to take to move you to the bottom is one single mistake, and then that's everything you're going to be remembered for."

"I messed up more than once, though."

"Doesn't matter. My point will still stand." argued Akebono. "What actually matters is how good you actually are, not how good others perceive you."

"And how good am I?" barked Porter, as if challenging Akebono's claim.

"You're the only one that could know, but I'll help." Akebono rubbed a knuckle on her temple, thinking. "Where did you sink?"

Akebono jolted back, suddenly surprised by her own boldness."Ah, it's fine if you don't want to say it."

"No, it's fine." Porter shook her head slowly. "It's Okinawa."

Akebono nodded. "That's pretty close. Special Attack Unit?"

"What?"

"Kamikaze?"

"Ah, yes."

"When were you laid down?"

"1942. Where are you going with this?" said Poter, getting impatient.

"Well, that means you had a rather long career. How many of our men did you kill?"

"Uhh, I shot down a couple of planes at least..." said Porter slowly, hesitant to cite her kill count in front of a Japanese destroyer.

"And how many of your own men died while in service?"

"Uhh...none?"

Akebono's eyes widened.

"None?"

"Well, there's one that got swept away in a storm..."

"Mother nature tried to kill you and you only lost one guy?"

"It's not like that..."

Akebono moved her back away from the wall and starting to slouch forward.

"Let me get this straight. You survived most of the war, killed a bunch of my people while losing none of your crew to enemy action, and you still consider yourself a failure? And I thought our standard was high."

"As I said, it's not like that...you're just trying to cheer me up, aren't you?" Porter accused.

"Girl, let me draw you a picture." Akebono turned her head so that she looked at Porter directly in the eyes. "If you could choose whether you're going to die with all hands perished holding back an enemy fleet while defending someone else's home, or to die while making sure that your crew could actually come back to their own home and see what they've been fighting for, which one would you choose?"

Porter's face rose up in epiphany. "The latter one, every time."

"See? not a failure."

"But all of my mess ups..."

"In a navy as big as yours or mine, that kind of things are bound to happen. Sometimes torpedoes move in a circle and blow up their own launching vessels, planes try to land on the enemy carriers, and battleships ram poor little destroyers to death. Your case just happened to involve the president, that's all."

Porter scratched her cheek in a flustered tic."Uh...when you put it that way, it doesn't sound so bad..."

"Indeed. We're destroyers. We get all of the shitty jobs, including being the butt of jokes. But we're going to do our jobs well, dammit!"

"Y...yeah!" Porter meekly pumped her fist, although you could clearly see the spirit building up on her face.

Akebono tapped Porter on the shoulder. "So no need to get small-hearted, alright? remember that your guns hurt just as much as those belonging to the ones that are mocking you. They're not better than you."

"O...Okay."

"Goo..." Akebono wanted to continue, but her words were interrupted by a massive yawn she had no power to stop.

"Shit." Akebono cursed. "I'm sorry, but I really need my beauty sleep right now."

"Ah...alright."

Akebono stood up, suddenly feeling older than she actually was.

"By the way, Porter?" Akebono said as she starting to walk away. "Whatever you think of yourself, your country and your people need you right now. so don't quit the navy, okay?"

After saying that, Akebono disappeared around the corner, leaving Porter alone. It was not until a while that Porter finally realized that she was still holding onto the glass of milk.

Figuring that she had nothing to lose, Porter took another sip.

"...it's warm."

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 **A/N: Feels like I could've written this chapter better. Oh well. Anyway, we'll go back to the USS ZuiPrise next.**


	36. From a Grey Ghost to a Grey Ghost

**A/N: I know I've said that I'd slow down, but writing this is such a relaxing thing for me. I've been trying to work out this particular problem of mine for some time now, but it feels like chiseling away at the white cliff of Dover with a soggy toothpick.**

 **PS: I feel like if I ever get around to fixing all of my mistakes in the previous chapters (and this chapter too, I'm sure), I'd need the literary equivalent of a combine harvester.**

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Enterprise was pushing her face flat against the surface of a round table in the main recreation room with her shoulders slumped and her arms hanging loosely like vines. Her head was entirely hidden by her black hoodie, making sure that no one that might pass could see her flustered expression. That wouldn't stop Enterprise from hearing the gossiping voices around her, however.

All over the room, both ships and humans were whispering, the kind of whispering that a resistance movement would use in case of occupation. But no matter how subtle they were trying to be, Enterprise could still overhear her name and Zuikaku's being mentioned.

One Japanese cruiser, one with a large camera slung over her shoulder, suddenly approached Enterprise, smiling.

Enterprise gave the cruiser a death glare that could drive a king to tears, but it seemed to have no effect this time. The cruiser pointed at Enterprise with two index fingers while grinning playfully.

"Nym~Pho~" the cruiser sang, and before Enterprise's fist could reach her face, the cruiser immediately bolted out of the room, leaving Enterprise even more frustrated than before.

"Dammit." the Big E cursed. Right now she's definitely not feeling like the conquering, invincible hero her peers had made her to be.

Enterprise was actually feeling rather pathetic. She's used to the relative certainty and simplicity of a war zone, where all of her problems could just be bombed away. She had never felt this confused before, absolutely not knowing what to do, and she hated the feeling.

Enterprise had seen Zuikaku trying to subtly approach her a couple of times since this morning, but then she always chickened out at the last moment. The worst part was that Enterprise could totally sympathize with her. Even right at this moment, Enterprise was considering to simply walk into Zuikaku's room and talk things out, but for some reason, she couldn't muster the will to move from her seat.

"Feeling in the dump?" said a familiar cheery voice.

Enterprise looked up and groaned.

"Iowa."

"Not even a hello? Come on girl! cheer up!"

Enterprise had always liked Iowa as a friend, but at this moment the mischievous smile on her face only brought a bad omen signing that Enterprise's day was about to get even worse.

"So?" Without waiting for permission, Iowa took a chair and turned it around, taking her seat with her legs wide open and supporting her breasts on the backrest. "How was her?"

"How was her what?" asked Enterprise back, almost rhetorically.

"Never mind, from the noise I guess she was pretty skilled."

"Goodness!"

"Ah, yes. You screamed that word a couple of times, too."

Enterprise crossed her arms on top of the table and buried her face in them.

"As far as I know, you haven't had any prior relationship since your summoning. So was that your first time?"

"So what if it was?" Enterprise mumbled.

"Well, then you're lucky to get such an experienced player for your first go. Me and Bongo didn't get it right until our third try, even after extensive research."

"I don't need to know."

"Apparently it's better to have a lot of pillows. We couldn't borrow them, of course, so that put quite a dent in our wages. On the flipside, I sleep a lot better now."

"Please stop." Enterprise begged.

"But I guess you don't need to worry about that sort of things since that lanky crane most certainly knows what she's doing. Who knows how many girls she had been with before you? Or will after?"

Enterprise morale dropped like depression era economy when her mind was forcefully steered towards the image of Zuikaku doing what she had done to her last night to a random girl.

Enterprise looked up slowly. "Y...you really think so?"

Her genuine question was met with a teasing look from Iowa.

"Oh, my. Look at that. The great Grey Ghost is acting like a teenage girl just past her puberty. How cute."

Enterprise felt her face heating up before slamming it onto the table.

"Aaargh...!" Enterprise screamed into her arms, not seeing that Iowa was desperately holding on from laughing out loud.

"Yeah, guess your pride wouldn't allow you to accept that you had been used in a one night stand. But no need to worry." Iowa clicked her tongue. "I looked her up. She's purer than a newborn baby whose mother had nearly drowned in a baptism pond just prior to labor."

"You mean..."

"Congrats. You've bagged yourself a natural. Maybe the Lucky E is not just a moniker after all."

"Ah..." Enterprise bit her lips, suddenly looking conflicted.

"It'll get better after the initial shock wear off, you know? After you had built up the confidence necessary and start to experiment..."

"We're not dating."

Iowa raised her eyebrows. "What?"

Enterprise sighed. "We're not officially dating. We just got really drunk last night."

Hearing Enterprise words, cheerfulness promptly drained from Iowa's face, replaced by an expression of almost pure dread.

"oh, shit. this is serious."

"Huh?"

Iowa shook her head. "You don't get it, do you? Between 'Zero' and 'being blasted by Godzilla', having unconscious drunken sex is around about 'being eaten by a resurrected T-Rex' in terms of terrible ways to start a proper relationship!"

If Enterprise hadn't been feeling so flustered, she'd probably have found the analogy interesting.

"You simply will not have the proper foundation to build your bond if you start that way! You might as well had gone into a club wearing skimpy clothing and get bent over a sink in the women restroom!" shouted Iowa, punctuating every word with an exaggerated hand gesture.

"A...ah." Enterprise tried to respond, but it's as if her tongue was locked. Partly because of Iowa's sudden filibuster, but mainly because she had just imagined Zuikaku bending her over a sink.

"This is a lady emergency!" announced Iowa loudly, uncaring of the people around her. "You need to clarify your relationship! Right! Now!"

"H...how..?" Enterprise barely managed to say.

Iowa bent forward, supporting herself on the table. "Easy. Go to her and ask her if she's willing to go official."

The color red promptly exploded on Enterprise's face.

"It...it's not that easy..."

"Of course it is. You're basically bombing eldritch monstrosities every other week. This should be a cakewalk, right?" encouraged Iowa.

Enterprise honestly felt that bombing eldritch monstrosities was probably easier than...whatever this was.

"What...what if I get rejected?"

Iowa softly put a palm on her face. "Doggone teenagers..." she muttered under her breath.

Iowa took a moment to compose herself before speaking again. "Look, I've been in this base for quite a while, and there's something I noticed about that Japanese carrier you're with."

"What is it?" said Enterprise, audibly anxious.

"Well, she's really popular. Like, 'Hugh Hefner with tits' popular."

"But you said she was pure."

"Only because she's denser than my citadel. My point is, girl, if you do not confess, someone else will. You now have a head start from being a ridiculously noisy performer, but it won't last so you better use it!"

Enterprise imagined Zuikaku walking through a church aisle with a random woman in hand. She felt blood rushing to her face, this time not from embarrassment, but from anger.

"I...I think I'll go." said Enterprise slowly as she stood up.

"Atta girl." said Iowa with a hint of pride in her voice.

Enterprise was about to exit the room when Iowa called out to her.

"Hey, Big E?"

"Yeah?"

"I wasn't joking about experimenting." said Iowa, still in a room full of people. "Find out her taste, it'll help tremendously. Sometimes I would go in with only a necktie and colorful socks and...hey, are those rope marks?"

Enterprise promptly dashed out of the room.

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 **A/N: I'm going to milk that T+ rating for all its worth, dammit.**

 **How many of you know that Iowa inherited the nickname 'Grey Ghost' from Enterprise?**

 **Also, nearing 200 reviews! Thanks for all of you who have been here since the beginning, and to the newcomers too of course! I've been enjoying reading your witty comments and have made several friends responding to the reviews. I kinda wish that those who had posted as guests would actually log in so that I could make friends with them too, but I'm sure you had your reasons, so I'm just going to say my thanks here instead of using PM!**

 **Cheers!**


	37. Confession

Zuikaku wanted to die.

Well, almost. She's not a teenager.

She looked like a teenager, sure, but her brain held the memories of hundreds of men, with various experiences in various fields including romance.

Now, each Kanmusu had their own level of recollection in regard of their memories as a steel ship. Zuikaku was considered somewhat gifted in this matter, able to remember the personalities and experiences of most of her crew members...including their painful deaths. So maybe she's not so gifted after all.

The thing was, she knew exactly what to do. She needed to speak to Enterprise. There's one problem, though. Reading through the memories of her crew was just like reading a book, or a guide. In retrospect, Zuikaku should've realized Enterprise's feeling for her long before she was literally mounting her. Reading through her crew's distant memories of dates, first loves, and regrets clearly showed her that all the signs were there, but somehow, Zuikaku missed them all.

In short, practice and theory were two completely different beasts. Zuikaku knew that she should speak to Enterprise as soon as possible. Communication is paramount, as the memories of broken marriages and abandoned wives in her head had shown. But every time Zuikaku tried to approach Enterprise, it felt like some invisible hands of the gods were reaching inside her gut and started playing Karuta with her innards.

So Zuikaku was left circling inside her own room, confused, slamming her fists continuously against her skull.

"Zuikaku...you'll damage your brain like that..." said Shoukaku worriedly from her seated position.

"I fucked it. Her. I fucked it up." said Zuikaku, forgetting that her sensitive sister was there with her.

"L-language please..."

Zuikaku shook.

"Sorry, sister."

Shoukaku swallowed, preparing herself to give yet another advice to her beloved, confused little sister.

"You've done something wrong and shameful, I understand that. But giving yourself concussion is not the answer."

"What else could I do!" Zuikaku lashed out, taking Shoukaku aback slightly.

"First, you need to calm down." said Shoukaku sagely. "It's just like a battlefield. Sometimes you need to stand back and not overcomplicate things."

Zuikaku took a deep breath, inhaling loudly.

"You're right, you're right."

Seeing that Zuikaku had calmed down, Shoukaku continued.

"Good. The hardest part is to meet her. Now, maybe you could-"

A tap came from the door before Shoukaku could finish her words.

"Who's there?" asked Zuikaku.

"Crane, are you alone?" asked Enterprise's distinctive voice.

Zuikaku looked at her sister.

"Okay, maybe meeting her wouldn't be the hardest part." said Shoukaku.

"Uh...my sister is here!" said Zuikaku as she opened her sliding door. "Er...you need me for something?"

In front of her, the great war machine Enterprise was fidgeting like a scaredy mouse, playing with her nails nervously.

"Ah...if so, then I could come back later..."

Enterprise had started to turn when Zuikaku grabbed her by the shoulder.

"No! she's about to leave anyway. Right, sis?"

"Of course."

Shoukaku stood, and with a smile she gracefully walked out of the room, bowing slightly to Enterprise on the way.

"Uh..."

Then, Zuikaku realized where she had placed her hand. She immediately pulled it back.

"C-come in please." said Zuikaku as she stepped back, letting Enterprise in.

"Thanks."

The room of the Shoukaku class carriers was, in a traditional Japanese way, very modest. It's six tatamis wide with wooden paneling over cement walls, with paper doors and a big wardrobe in the wall where the cranes stored their futons. Otherwise, the cranes didn't even have a proper desk, just a small lap table that's currently stored in the wardrobe, only to be taken out when necessary.

"Nice room." said Enterprise. Zuikaku couldn't guess if she was being sarcastic.

"Thanks...I guess."

Enterprise turned to face Zuikaku, and Zuikaku subconsciously averted her eyes to look at Enterprise's bare feet, instead of her eyes.

"You know why I'm here." Enterprise declared.

"Y...yeah."

"Then...who's going to start talking first? You or me?"

After the two carriers suddenly went dead silent for a painful ten seconds, Zuikaku finally collected her courage. She bowed deeply and sharply, surprising Enterprise.

"I'm sorry!" Zuikaku almost shouted. "It was a mistake! I've done something so shameful and ruined your reputation!"

Enterprise took a step back. "M...mistake?"

"Yes!" Zuikaku bowed again. "I know that it was an unforgivable act to force myself upon you! And believe me, I will bring this shame to my grave! But I swear I will make up for it! All I ask is that you do not continue to hate me!"

"H...hate you? Who-"

Zuikaku went down on her knees and started pushing her forehead against the tatami.

"PLEASE FORGIVE ME!"

A moment went by when Enterprise merely watched Zuikaku in silence. To say that Enterprise was not familiar with this particular aspect of the Japanese culture would be an understatement.

"Get up." she finally said, her voice remarkably cold.

"I will not get up until you forgive me." insisted Zuikaku.

Then, Zuikaku felt something pulling on her collar. She gasped as her entire body was suddenly pulled upwards by the neck, forcing Zuikaku to meet eyes with a very angry looking Enterprise.

"Mistake?" Enterprise said harshly, yanking Zuikaku's collar.

Enterprise then pulled Zuikaku to the side, slamming her into the nearest wall. Zuikaku coughed as air suddenly got driven away from her lungs.

"You swooped me off my feet, tied me up and ravished me, and now you dare to call me a mistake!?"

Enterprise's screaming hurt Zuikaku's ears, but it hurt her heart more.

"N...no! that wasn't my meaning..! I-"

"You're afraid, I can understand that." said Enterprise with a softer voice. "I feel it too. This is my first time feeling this way, and at first, I didn't know what to do..."

Zuikaku felt Enterprise's grip on her neck weakening.

"...but then I realized that I don't want this feeling to end. God, I'm being so sappy right now, aren't I?"

Enterprise paused, expecting Zuikaku to respond. When it was clear that Zuikaku was too stunned to open her mouth, Enterprise released her grip on Zuikaku's collar before continuing.

"I love you, Zuikaku."

Love.

The word echoed inside Zuikaku's head, so loud that she almost couldn't hear Enterprise next words.

"Eheheh...you don't need to give your response right now." Enterprise chuckled, trying her hardest to downplay the weight of the words she had just said. "I mean, I'm a patient girl."

It was also obvious that Enterprise wanted to get out of the room as soon as possible.

"So, uh, GOODBYE!"

Like lightning, Enterprise turned around and started dashing for the door, and faster than lightning Zuikaku grabbed her by the wrist.

"Huh?"

Zuikaku checked herself. Her breathing was steady, and she could perfectly count how many fingers she used to keep Enterprise from running away.

This time, she's definitely sober.

...and yet she wanted her anyway.

Zuikaku slipped a hand behind Enterprise's waist and onto her lower back.

"Uh...Crane?"

Zuikaku didn't say anything. She simply did what she should've done a long time ago. She pulled Enterprise closer to her body, and pressed her into a gentle, silent kiss.

"I love you, Enterprise."

Enterprise visibly jolted as the words came out of Zuikaku's mouth.

"T..that was easy, wasn't it?" Enterprise smiled, yet the wet sniffling and the biting of her lower lip told Zuikaku she was holding back tears. "I was so stupid..."

"I think the world can agree that I was the stupid one. You've tried so hard..."

Enterprise snorted in an absolutely inelegant way. "You noticed?"

"Looking back, yeah." Zuikaku scratched her own head in mild shame. "Nose on your face et cetera."

Enterprise wiped her eyes and finally gave a genuine smile as she grabbed Zuikaku by both hands.

"So...that's it then? It's official? We're, as they say, an item?"

Zuikaku smiled, Her eyes looking down longingly at the shorter American girl.

"I don't know what people say, but what I know is that I wouldn't mind dying together with you."

Enterprise twitched.

"Okay, that maybe sounds romantic for Japanese ears, but for me that's just a bad omen."

Zuikaku glanced down, embarrassed.

"Sorr-"

Zuikaku's apology was cut off by Enterprise's counter-kiss.

"It's fine, but let's just focus on our life together from now on, okay?"

Zuikaku put her head down, resting her forehead on Enterprise's. Enterprise closed her eyes as their noses gently touched.

"Okay." Zuikaku whispered.

Zuikaku and Enterprise held their position for a blissful minute until a knock came from the door, breaking the now official couple from their trance.

"Who is it?" asked Zuikaku while Enterprise desperately tried to straighten out her crumpled clothes.

"It's Ooyodo." said a very formal voice from the other side of the door.

"Wait a moment."

Zuikaku looked at Enterprise, which then gave her a nod.

Zuikaku opened the door and was faced with the stern face of the cruiser Ooyodo, accompanied by the apologizing face of her own sister.

"I'm sorry, Zuikaku! I tried to stop her!"

Ooyodo looked curiously at Zuikaku, and then at Enterprise.

"Am I interrupting something?"

"NO!" shouted both Enterprise and Zuikaku together.

Ooyodo gave a look that clearly said that she didn't believe them even one bit.

"Everything in moderation, please." Ooyodo coughed lightly into her hand before continuing. "Anyway, I just got a call from Admiral Goto saying that she got invited to the navy's fundraiser party tomorrow, and she could bring a few of her ships with her."

Zuikaku tilted her head. "And...?"

"She gave me a list. You and Miss Enterprise are invited."

"Oh? that's nice. Anything we have to prepare?" asked Enterprise.

"Black tie required." Ooyodo said flatly.

Hearing those words, Enterprise's face immediately brightened. Zuikaku's face, meanwhile, was quickly filled with absolute horror.

'Black tie required' meant a formal party, which in turn meant that Zuikaku had to deal with what's probably the only thing she hated more than the Abyssal.

A fucking dress.

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 **A/N: Well, that's sappy.**


	38. Getting Armed

"I can't believe you choose to wear that." Enterprise said, obviously irritated judging from her puffing cheeks.

"Thank the gods I'm allowed to wear this." countered Zuikaku as she closed her dark double-breasted suit with six golden buttons aligned in two rows.. "Besides, where do you think I could get a good dress in twenty-four hours?"

"Rent exists, you know."

Zuikaku turned around and sighed. "To be honest I'm kind of amazed that you and your ships dragged a bunch of tailored dresses across the Pacific."

"Well, we're not just here as soldiers, you know? we're also partially expected to be diplomatic envoys."

Zuikaku looked closer at Enterprise, and for a moment she was stunned at how well she fitted into her dress. The light gray dress was remarkably conservative, barely showing any skin at all with its glittering full sleeves and a tall neck that almost reached the base of her lower jaw. The skirt was so long and flowing that it dragged beautifully across the floor, causing Zuikaku to almost instinctively look for a puddle of water on the road, where she would then put her coat over it so that Enterprise could walk across without dirtying her feet. However, as modest as the dress was, the way it fitted the contours of Enterprise's body nearly made Zuikaku point her AA guns in the general direction of the Vatican and demand the pope to saint whoever Enterprise's tailor was.

"Yeah, there's no way I could pull that off." whispered Zuikaku a little bit too loudly.

"Huh?"

"N-nothing!" Zuikaku averted her eyes as she turned around, trying to hide her face from Enterprise. "Anyway, I don't like dresses except for dress blues and the kind."

"Tch. And here I was hoping to see you in a low cut."

Zuikaku imagined herself in a low cut dress.

"Yeah, not happening." Zuikaku snickered as she pulled her ribbons off her hair.

"It's strange to see you without your twin tails."

"Well, couldn't wear my hat with it, could I?"

Zuikaku picked up her officer hat from the table and put it on her now straight and flowing hair. She then turned around, arms extended to the sides.

"How do I look?"

Enterprise looked silently for a moment, then she immediately averted her eyes.

"It...it's fine, I guess..."

Zuikaku really liked Enterprise's skin. It's so pale that it's almost impossible for her to hide a blush.

"Still would love it if you wore a dress, though..."

Seeing Enterprise's shyness, Zuikaku smiled before slowly walking towards her, her eyes never letting go of Enterprise's body.

"Now, now, we wouldn't want to blind everyone with our combined beauty, would we?"

Zuikaku put one hand on Enterprise's shoulder and one on her chin, forcing Enterprise to look her in the eyes.

"You're cute enough for both of us."

Without even giving Enterprise's heart the chance to start fluttering, Zuikaku pulled Enterprise into a small kiss. It was just a peck, but the effect was immediately obvious.

Enterprise looked down at Zuikaku's chest, not daring to look at her face.

"You ruined my lip gloss." said Enterprise, gently caressing her lips. "I...I need to fix it."

Zuikaku smiled and shrugged. "Sure. I can wait."

"E-excuse me."

Enterprise started to scramble towards the door. She's not quite running since she's wearing high heels, but it was faster than a walking pace nonetheless. Zuikaku kept her gaze locked on Enterprise's backside as she disappeared behind the door.

Satisfied, Zuikaku turned her attention to a full-body mirror leaning in one corner of the room and promptly noticed that she had caught a trace of Enterprise's lip gloss. Zuikaku gently licked her lips.

It had been quite a while since the last time Zuikaku wore the dress uniform of the JMSDF. Honestly, she wished that she had gotten the chances to wear it more often. She really liked the design. The black color mixed gloriously with the golden insignias, patches, and trimmings, giving an aura of gallantry befitting a member of a proud navy.

Zuikaku checked herself thoroughly. Her tie was exactly the same width as her lapels, there was no gap between her shirt's collar and the jacket's, and the shoulder pads were resting solely on the shoulders, not too long nor too short. The only flaw was that one of the badges on her left breast was slightly crooked, which Zuikaku immediately fixed.

In most navies deploying Kanmusu forces, a Kanmusu would be considered a single large vessel. That's why nearly all Kanmusu in the world were officially recognized as captains. It's mostly just formalities since for the most part Kanmusu was treated almost like an entirely different branch of the military, kind of like the American Marines, but the OF-5 pay grade was quite nice regardless.

Zuikaku quickly checked on her sleeves, making sure there were no loose threads coming out the four bars and sakura petals that made up her captain insignias. For a while, Zuikaku looked solemnly at the sakura petals on her sleeve, which symbolized the Japanese soldiers' willingness to die for their country like the fragile petals of the sakura trees. Some things never changed.

Zuikaku took two steps back, taking a general look at herself. One benefit of being somewhat detached from the regular navy, or a 'maritime self-defence force' as the politicians liked to call it, was the slightly freer uniform regulations, as evident by the fact that Zuikaku had opted for a pair of pants instead of a skirt and a hat that didn't make her look like she came from the nineteenth century.

Zuikaku was about to get out of the room when the door opened and the head engineer Fukuda and the repair ship Akashi came barging in.

"Ah, good. you're not wearing a silly dress." said Fukuda, her eyes gleaming under her glasses.

"Can I help you?" asked Zuikaku politely.

"You are going to a party far inland, correct? Far enough from the base that you wouldn't be able to summon your rigging remotely?" asked Akashi.

"Well, yes."

"That's why you're the perfect subject to test our newly developed PDW!" shouted Fukuda, obviously excited.

"PDW?"

"Personal Defense Weapon." answered Akashi, taking out a wooden box out of somewhere. "Here, put it on."

Akashi opened the box. Inside was what looked like a leather wristband with some mechanical bits attached to it. Zuikaku took one step forward and took it, before putting the strap on her left wrist.

"Flick your hand." ordered Akashi.

Zuikaku did so, and the mechanical bits on her wrist suddenly expanded. Two metal bars immediately jutted to either side of her wrist, with what looked like a single metal wire connecting their ends. Another metal bar extended between the two prior bars, it was ridged, with an obvious slot to slide in an arrow-shaped object. What was obviously a trigger mechanism jumped straight onto Zuikaku's palm, ready for her to pull.

"Wrist mounted crossbow!" said Fukuda proudly. Akashi was silent, but Zuikaku could see the pride in her eyes.

"Why would I need this?" Zuikaku gave her honest question.

"Well, the Abyssal are getting more and more human-like, at least in forms, as time goes on, right?" said Fukuda.

Indeed, the first time Zuikaku faced a Wo-class carrier came as a surprise for her.

"So some of the higher ups has been worrying about the possibility of Abyssal infiltration units. Hence the program to develop a personalized, concealed weapon for our Kanmusu."

Zuikaku looked at her wrist. It was definitely a marvel of engineering, but it looked suspiciously simple as well.

"I'm going to a high-class party. Why now?" Zuikaku asked again.

"It's supposed to be a weapon that you could carry at all times. So if you could forget that it existed at all and had fun in the party, then we could declare the project a success." said Akashi. "All the other field tests were already done. It's fully functional. we just need this one more test before we can start mass production."

"Is it safe? Plenty of high profile people will be in the party."

"Absolutely. The draw weight and length are too low to kill anyone directly. It's solely designed for carrier use." said Fukuda. "Akashi, if you..."

"Of course."

Akashi took out some kind of small ammo belt filled with crossbow bolts and gave it to Zuikaku.

"Nakajima A4N, Type 95 carrier fighters." said Fukuda.

Zuikaku tied the ammo belt around her forearm with the points of the bolts facing her elbow, before covering it with her sleeve. She then folded the crossbow back to its original form, and it suddenly became completely invisible under her suit.

"Only biplanes, huh?"

"The best we can do for now, regretfully." said Fukuda with a hint of anger in her voice. "But it should give you the time you need to get back to base and get your proper rigging in the case of sudden unexpected attack inland."

"That is only if you accept this test, of course." added Akashi.

Zuikaku felt the crossbow's weight on her wrist, and honestly, she really liked the feeling of security she got from it. Zuikaku had enough of being executed with her hangars empty.

"Sure. I'll do it." said Zuikaku.

"Yes!" Fukuda threw her arms above her head in triumph. "Can I expect your report to be ready tomorrow?"

"Ugh. Fine."

"Alright, then..."

A knock came from the door, heralding Enterprise's approach.

"Crane, I'm ready to...oh." Enterprise's words stopped when she realized that Zuikaku wasn't alone.

"Uhh...we should go." said Akashi as she pulled Fukuda to the door.

"You two have fun!" said Fukuda as she walked, or more precisely dragged, past Enterprise.

When the two carriers were finally alone in the room again, Enterprise walked towards Zuikaku.

"What was that?" Enterprise asked worriedly.

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it." said Zuikaku, caressing Enterprise's cheek with her right hand as she was yet to completely trust the device attached to her left.

"Really?" said Enterprise, suspicious.

"Really." Zuikaku smiled. "Everything is going to be fine."

Indeed, everything was going to be fine. Enterprise looked so beautiful, and Zuikaku would have an entire night to spend with her.

Absolutely nothing could go wrong tonight.


	39. A Long Night, Part One

**A/N: So, This is the start of a very long arc I've planned, and in concerns of inciting reader fatigue and slow, inconsistent update rate, I will break the arc into a number of parts that could be easily digested. Metaphorically, my goal is to give you a series of light snacks throughout the weeks instead of trying to turn your liver into a Foie Gras by new year's eve.**

 **Hope you don't mind. Cheers.**

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The sight of the city lights blurred past as Zuikaku leaned her head against the car window. On the raised highway, Zuikaku could observe as the sight of the sea got further and further away until it got completely replaced by the sight of skyscrapers.

Zuikaku shivered, and sitting by her side on the middle backseat, the destroyer O'bannon was doing the same.

"You alright?" asked Zuikaku.

O'Bannon shook harder.

"I...I can't smell the sea..."

Zuikaku knew that some Kanmusu could experience a severe anxiety attack whenever they got too far away from the sea, but Zuikaku had never witnessed such case in person.

"Tell me if you want to puke or something. I just cleaned this car." said Admiral Goto on the driver seat. "By the way, could any of you look back and check if the other cars are still following?"

Zuikaku looked back, and through the rear window, she could clearly see a convoy of black saloons driving in a straight line behind them.

"They're still following." reported Zuikaku.

"Good."

Suddenly, Zuikaku felt tiny fingers touching her. Zuikaku looked aside and saw that O'Bannon had slipped her hand inside hers.

"S...sorry." said O'Bannon, who was as pale as her tanned skin allowed. "Let me stay like this for a while."

Zuikaku smiled before tightening her grip on O'Bannon's hand.

"Sure, I'll be here for you."

Hearing Zuikaku's words, O'Bannon's skin immediately brightened up again. In fact, her face was starting to show a hint of a faint blush.

"Wow, you really just can't stop, can you?" said Enterprise, who was seated on the other side of the car.

"Stop what?" asked Zuikaku cluelessly.

"Ugh, nevermind."

Enterprise averted her face from Zuikaku and started staring outside her window, leaving Zuikaku confused and with no idea of what had caused her to be so irritated.

The car then kept driving on for about an hour of so, passing the Yokosuka border and deeper into the Kanagawa prefecture until Zuikaku could finally see their destination.

"I did not even know that thing was here." said Zuikaku, leaning forward so that she could take a better look at the five-star hotel they're headed.

"It wasn't here until a month ago." said Ooyodo, riding shotgun. "A Chinese billionaire just bought a lot of lands and built it in under a year."

"Daring investment for such uncertain times." commented Zuikaku.

"Quite suspicious, I'd say." said the admiral. "Either that or she's a moron."

"Maybe she's desperate, trying to spend all of her money before the world ends." said Enterprise flatly, her eyes still locked on the view across her window.

The other passengers immediately went quiet.

"That's a possibility." the admiral finally said.

After driving through a massive garden that made the hotel's front yard, the car finally arrived at the front of the lobby. From what Zuikaku could see, the hotel was designed with a classical style in mind. A grand marble staircase leading to the main gate was sandwiched between gigantic white pillars supporting an arched ceiling holding a series of crystal chandeliers. Hidden lamps bathed the atmosphere with warm, ambient light that contrasted with the cold darkness of the night.

A group of professional valets immediately approached the car Zuikaku was in the moment it tires touched the hotel's pavement. Zuikaku wasn't planning to let them open the door for her, however.

Zuikaku opened her own door even before the car reached a complete halt. She then immediately went over to the other side of the car, giving a poor young man that was about to open Enterprise's door a glare that could castrate a horse.

"I got this." said Zuikaku, driving the valet away. She then gently opened the door for Enterprise.

"Milady." Zuikaku said in a faux posh accent as she offered her hand towards Enterprise.

"How chivalrous." Enterprise said sarcastically as she took Zuikaku's hand.

As Enterprise and the other ships disembarked the car, the admiral was throwing her car key to the nearest valet.

"Don't scratch the paint." said the admiral.

Zuikaku moved her mouth closer to Enterprise.

"A little advice? Don't give any service person a tip while you're in Japan. We consider the concept of tips offensive."

"Why?"

"Because it implies that our bosses are not paying us enough."

"But what if you do actually not get paid enough?"

"Then it is our duty to protect the good names of the companies."

Enterprise looked at Zuikaku for a moment, befuddled. Then she rolled her eyes to the side.

"Japan is weird."

"Never said we're perfect."

Led by the admiral, the group ascended the white staircase to the hotel's front gate. Behind them, Zuikaku could see the rest of the convoy arriving. She could just make out the sight of the USS Iowa getting out of her car before the massive wooden doors closed behind her.

"Yokosuka group?" asked a female naval officer in a full dress uniform. "This way please."

The officer led Zuikaku's group through the lobby and into a corridor. They walked the corridor for almost a full minute, their shoes made nary a sound on the luxurious red carpet.

Finally, they reached a single door labeled 'ZION HALL', which was located at the end of a series of doors with such names as 'Utopia', 'Eden', and 'Valhalla'.

They entered, and Zuikaku was almost instantaneously shocked.

"Huh." muttered the admiral. "You could fit a full-sized battleship here."

Zuikaku couldn't count them, but there were probably more than two hundred people in that massive hall. Yet between each two persons there was almost always enough space to host a junior football league. The ceiling was almost as tall as the hall was wide, and was covered with a European style mural painting depicting various tales of Japanese mythology that, in Zuikaku's non-artistically-inclined eyes, was only slightly lower in quality than that of the Sistine Chapel. The most prominent figure Zuikaku could see in the mural was that of Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto, dancing naked on an upturned bucket as she tried to draw out the sun goddess Amaterasu-Omikami who had been sulking in a cave after her brother, Susano'o, broke her toys.

Ancient people were pretty insane.

"Fancy."

Zuikaku turned her head and was immediately faced by the glory that were Iowa's chest. Iowa had opted for a glittering, form-fitting red dress in the style of Jessica Rabbit that left her shoulders and the top of her breasts bare. Zuikaku could see a hint of glitter powder which Iowa had spread modestly on herself, drawing eyes to her exposed skin.

"Anyway, I'm going to check on the food."

With that, Iowa walked to the nearest buffet. Zuikaku hoped that whoever organized this party was prepared for the appetite of a large number of capital ships.

The food tables were lined up against the walls, leaving the center of the hall empty as a designated dance floor. At the far side of the room Zuikaku could see a stage, where a band of traditional Japanese instruments were being played by people wearing contrasting western style vests and shirts. That, however, wasn't the thing that surprised Zuikaku the most.

"Is that Kaga on the mic?" asked Zuikaku to nobody in particular.

"I'm lending her voice for tonight." answered the admiral.

Unlike the men and women manning the instruments, Kaga was wearing a beautiful traditional kimono, with white cloud pattern scattered on a dark blue background.

Kaga started singing. It was an enka, and if it wasn't Kaga singing it Zuikaku might even enjoy the song. As it was, it only felt like yet one more thing the older carrier could brag over her.

"Great voice." said Enterprise.

"Yeah." Zuikaku hated to admit it but Kaga really had a lot of talents outside of the battlefield. Zuikaku noticed that a large portion of the audience immediately gave a standing ovation the moment Kaga opened her mouth.

"GOTO!"

Admiral Goto and her group turned to the direction of the voice that had suddenly called, and saw two women approaching.

"A...Admiral Hackett?!" Enterprise uttered in surprise.

"You know her?" asked Zuikaku.

"She's my admiral when I was stationed at Pearl..."

Zuikaku attention was immediately locked to the woman wearing the USN dress uniform. She was young for an admiral, maybe about the same age as her own Admiral Goto. She was tall and lanky but with a posture and movements that were much agiler than her ectomorphic build would suggest. She had left her stringy burgundy hair loose, creating a messy curtain effect over her freckled face.

"GOTO! MY FRIEND!"

The American admiral offered her hand, which Admiral Goto took with strength.

"Hackett, you've done well for yourself." said Admiral Goto, a lot calmer than her American counterpart.

"You too, friend! Too bad RIMPAC got canceled before we could duke it out, huh?"

"Apparently they figured that fighting mysterious abomination together is better for relationship building than mere play battles."

Zuikaku could no longer hold back her curiosity.

"You two knew each other?"

"Yeah, we met in our university years." said Admiral Goto.

"Ah, fellow Oxford alumni, then?"

"Nope!" said Hackett cheerfully. "I went to Cambridge!"

Zuikaku tilted her head in confusion. "Then how..."

"Oxford and Cambridge's students have been trying to kill each other ever since some Oxford scholars got exiled to Cambridge for killing a woman." said Kongou as she passed from the door through Zuikaku. "Where's Iowa?"

Zuikaku pointed at Iowa, who was in the middle of emptying an entire buffet table by herself.

"Thanks." Kongou said as she left to join Iowa, probably to the dismay of the chefs.

"You know, she once tried to cave my skull with a canoe at the end of our annual rowing contest." said Admiral Hackett.

"That was an accident." Admiral Goto retorted.

"Yeah, ain't letting you live it down that easily, friend."

Admiral Hackett then switched her attention to Enterprise.

"Good evening, Enterprise. Enjoying your time in Japan? You're not being hazed or anything, right?"

Enterprise was slightly surprised by the sudden question, but she quickly gathered her composure.

"Yes, admiral. The Japanese have been surprisingly nice to me."

"I'd bet." Admiral Hackett then pointed a finger at Zuikaku. "And you are?"

Zuikaku almost gave a salute before she realized the occasion.

"Shoukaku-class standard carrier, Zuikaku." Zuikaku introduced herself, nodding politely.

"Ah, yes, the one who has been boarding my ship."

Admiral Hackett chuckled, and Enterprise promptly went so red Yuri Gagarin might accidentally try to land on her. Zuikaku suspected that she was doing exactly the same judging by the sudden rise of temperature in the room.

Admiral Hacket then approached Zuikaku, before putting both hands on her shoulders.

"A thought?" Admiral Hackett whispered so that only Zuikaku could hear her. "The restrooms in this hotel are all equipped with fully enclosed cubicles. They're also very roomy and have excellent soundproofing."

"Er...that's nice to know, but why are you telling me this?" asked Zuikaku, genuinely confused by the sudden, seemingly off-topic information that had been given to her.

Admiral Hackett raised her brow.

"Wow. So Albacore wasn't just exaggerating."

"Huh?"

Before Zuikaku could ask for clarification, Admiral Goto called to the American admiral.

"You haven't told us why you're here, Hackett. I assume it's not just for the festivities?"

"Correct. They've sent me to check on Saratoga. Is she here, by the way?"

"No. She said that she had already made a promise to do something else with one of our light carriers." answered Admiral Goto.

"Too bad. Anyway, you probably haven't been told yet, but I'll be in your care for the next few months, starting next week."

"Then I will prepare for your accommodation first thing in the morning." said Admiral Goto.

"You're too kind, friend." Admiral Hackett nodded gratefully. "Anyway, we should talk later."

"Of course."

Admiral Hackett turned and started walking away. "Come on, Texas. Let's check the booze."

The stocky, blonde haired girl who had been silent so far bowed to Zuikaku's group, before running off to follow her admiral.

"So, that's your old admiral, huh?" said Zuikaku.

"Yeah. Working with her had been...interesting, to say the least."

Enterprise scratched the back of her head with her polished nails, before putting her hand on Zuikaku's palm.

"But let's not talk about work for now. Shall we go enjoy the party?"

Zuikaku smiled, Enterprise's hand felt almost fragile in her grasp.

"Sure."

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 **A/N: Man, I'd be writing a hella lot faster if I was a native English speaker. Anyway, I'd be spending the next few days going through my previous chapters to 'smooth things out' now my English is a little bit better. Hopefully, this wouldn't delay the next update for too long.**

 **Cheers.**


	40. A Long Night Pt 2: Texas Massacre

**A/N: My birthday's on April 16th, So here, have another chapter. I almost accidentally deleted it.**

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Zuikaku was enjoying a plate full of pastries when an unfamiliar young woman approached her. She was glamorously dressed, and with her tasteful make-up and well cared black hair, she's definitely a woman of nice upbringing.

"Excuse me." said the woman with a polite tone and an accent that Zuikaku had only ever heard in a sitcom about rich people. "My hair clip fell off. Could you put it back on for me?"

"Of course." said Zuikaku as she took the butterfly-shaped hair clip from the woman.

"Tee-hee." the woman giggled as Zuikaku touched her hair.

"There."

"Thank you~"

The woman waved to Zuikaku as she started walking away. Zuikaku politely waved back.

"Nice girl." said Zuikaku.

"Yeah, nice girl." said Enterprise, who had been watching the whole process from the sideline.

Right after the first woman disappeared from sight, another woman appeared, just as well groomed as the previous one.

"Could you help me, please? I think I tore the back of my stocking, could you help me check?"

The woman then lifted her skirt, showing her well-sculpted legs.

"Sure, ma'am." Zuikaku bent down. "It seems to be fine, ma'am."

"You sure? It would be embarrassing for me if you're wrong. Try using your hands."

"Uh...okay..."

Zuikaku kneeled and started running her hands across the woman's legs.

"It's fine as far as I can see, uh...feel, ma'am."

"Oh? Well, my mistake then. Thanks anyway."

Zuikaku barely stood up when the woman suddenly leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. She was already away before Zuikaku could say anything.

"Weird woman." said Zuikaku, rubbing her cheek.

"yeah...weird." whispered Enterprise, her increasing tone of irritation completely missed by Zuikaku.

...and that's when the third woman came in.

"You've got to be kidding me." said Enterprise, though Zuikaku did not see what exactly justified such remark.

"Good evening, milady."

Unlike the two previous women, this one was a European, eastern, if Zuikaku guessed right, and she spoke with an antiquated tone that someone old enough to remember the Tzar might associate with the Russian aristocracy.

"You are, as they say, a 'ship girl', yes?"

"Yes, ma'am." Zuikaku said confidently.

"My father owns one of the biggest oil company in Siberia, and we've been sending most of our production straight to Japan ever since this war started."

"And we are grateful for your service, ma'am. You can be sure of that." said Zuikaku, deciding to play politician for a while.

"Yes, but what I am curious about is how someone no taller that I consumes as much fuel as a large warship. Could you enlighten me?"

Zuikaku nodded, understanding the woman's concern completely.

"I am no scientist, but if you want I can certainly explain the basic mechanic."

"My, how courteous. However, the hall is a bit too crowded for my liking. Maybe we could talk alone? Maybe in the veranda?" said the woman, licking her lips hungrily.

"Sure. Lead the way." said Zuikaku without hesitation.

Zuikaku was about to walk away with the woman when Enterprise finally snapped.

"No." Enterprise grunted.

"Is there a problem?" asked the woman.

"No. We're busy. go away."

"But-"

"Go away, before I use bits of you to revitalize the Great Barrier Reef."

The woman and Enterprise engaged in a staring contest for a while as Zuikaku watched cluelessly from the side, before the woman finally turned away.

"Tch. Barbarian." said the woman as she left.

Zuikaku waited until the woman was out of sight before she confronted Enterprise.

"Okay, what was that about?"

"What?"

"You're being so hostile and irritated. has something happened?" said Zuikaku, her voice full of concern.

"Has something happened?" Enterprise parroted, giving a weird look that made Zuikaku feel uneasy.

Enterprise couldn't give her answer before a bell was sounded, signaling the first dance of the night.

 _'so, you want to know why I'm so irritated, huh?'_ whispered Enterprise, completely unheard by Zuikaku who simply smiled as she offered her hand to Enterprise.

"For now, shall we dance?" Zuikaku offered, trying to hide the excitement in her voice.

"No."

"Eh?"

Enterprise looked at Zuikaku in the eyes and grinned mischievously.

"You've never been to a dance party before, do you? there will be three dances throughout the night, and only the last is reserved for the official partner."

"But-"

"This is a social event, Crane, so go socialize." Enterprise smiled as she turned around, still keeping her eyes on Zuikaku. "Or you could skip the first and second dances and just watch me...with someone else."

Zuikaku felt a sting somewhere in the back of her chest as Enterprise walked away, but she chose to let her go nonetheless, instead of insisting on dancing together and risking embarrassing the both of them with her lack of social knowledge.

"Dammit." Zuikaku muttered.

Zuikaku walked to the edge of the hall as people started gathering in the center of the room, partners in hands. She took a sip of her newly acquired non-alcoholic drink when she saw Enterprise walking to the dance floor with her old admiral, their arms linked.

The people on the stage stopped playing as the grand piano placed in one of the corners of the room started singing, singing a song that someone more artistically conscious than Zuikaku might recognize as the work of the Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi.

"Nuvole Bianche, part of the Una Mattina album." said a soft voice from beside Zuikaku. "You're not dancing?"

Zuikaku looked to her side and saw a familiar blonde-haired girl.

"Texas, isn't it?"

"Yes, I am."

She was wearing a very modest yellow dress, but her other features were exactly as one would expect someone named 'Texas' would look like. Her face was almost perpetually blushing, with a thick cluster of freckles near her pale blue eyes and across her nose, giving the impression of a sun-kissed ranch girl. Her build was short yet sturdy-looking, and anyone could see that she was a combatant even through her frilly dress.

"You haven't answered yet. Why are you not dancing?" Texas said,

"Well, I don't know anyone enough to suddenly ask onto the dance floor, unfortunately." spoke Zuikaku honestly.

"You're too tense." Texas continued. "It really is just talking while spinning around for a while, at least until the last dance."

"Well, still..." Zuikaku scratched the back of her neck, unwilling to admit that she's just too shy to ask anyone.

"Want me to teach you?"

"What?"

"I'll teach you how to dance, if you're willing. Sure beats standing here like jackasses."

Zuikaku looked around and realized that they're almost alone. Most of the people in the hall were already on the dance floor, making Zuikaku and Texas stuck out like a sore thumb. A sad, lonely sore thumb.

"Uh...sure."

"Ask me, then."

"What?"

"Ask my hand for the first dance. Properly."

Zuikaku shrugged, before bending down and offering her hand.

"May I have this dance, milady?"

Texas looked at Zuikaku's hand judgingly.

"Good enough for a beginner, I guess."

Barely giving Zuikaku a chance to put down her drink, Texas took Zuikaku's hand and practically dragged her onto the dance floor, her mary jane shoes clapping along.

With her eyes focusing on Texas, Zuikaku didn't realize that Enterprise was staring at her murderously past her own dance partner.

"Just follow my lead." said Texas as she took Zuikaku by both hands.

The two ships started spinning, synchronizing their footsteps with the graceful movement of the pianist's fingers.

"For a standard battleship, you're pretty quick on your feet."

"I'm rather confident with my rudder shift time."

The music changed pace, and the people on the dance floor adjusted. Zuikaku found herself struggling to keep up with Texas' rapidly increasing speed.

"So, you're Zuikaku, the one who was giving us so much trouble."

"Well, maybe?" Zuikaku said absentmindedly, desperately trying to not step on Texas' foot.

"I heard you're one of the best."

Zuikaku smiled, trying to hide her panting.

"You're not too bad yourself, ma'am. The covering fire you gave at Normandy was a stuff of legend."

Texas' eyes widened.

"Oh? Thank you. People usually don't mention that whenever Enterprise is in the same room as me."

"What do you mean?"

Texas rolled her eyes. "Well, she has this bad habit of overshadowing everyone around her, you see."

Zuikaku had never personally noticed, but she guessed that it made sense that people's attention would naturally be drawn to one of the most prestigious ships in history.

"Talking about the Grey Ghost..."

Texas turned her gaze to where Enterprise and Admiral Hackett were dancing, and promptly chuckled.

"Oh, my! How cute! she's trying to make you jealous!"

Zuikaku tilted her head, confused.

"Really?"

"Yeah! look at how she's constantly stealing glances at you! That's just precious."

Zuikaku took a look for herself, and indeed Enterprise was stealing glances at her direction. Also, she was definitely dancing a bit too close to the admiral for it to be a mere social dancing.

However, before Zuikaku could make up her thought about the situation, Texas pulled her closer.

"Let's beat her at her own game, shall we?"

Texas pulled even closer, pushing her considerable body softly against Zuikaku. Zuikaku was too shocked to say anything, and that's before Texas started spinning her around like a top around the dance floor.

Texas hastened her pace, somehow keeping in tune with the slow music while her feet moved like lightning storm. Zuikaku didn't even realize as she was dragged closer to the edge of the hall, near one of the heavily decorated tables.

"See that bouquet there?"

Zuikaku managed to stop her head from spinning long enough to see a bouquet of roses on the table closest to them.

"Get the yellow rose. Put it gently on my hair."

Texas stopped herself from throwing Zuikaku around to give her a chance to do as she had ordered. Zuikaku, still feeling somewhat dizzy, absent-mindedly took a yellow rose from the table and slowly slipped it between Texas' hairs. The flower immediately blent in with Texas' yellow dress and golden hair.

"Nicely done."

Texas pulled Zuikaku back to the center of the dance floor, drawing a quiet yelp from the poor exhausted carrier. She then turned around, grinding her backside against Zuikaku's thighs. She took Zuikaku's hands and guided them upwards along her own thighs, lifting her skirt a little in the process.

"What's your power to weight ratio?" asked Texas suddenly.

"Well, technically I have more horsepower than the Yamato..."

"Good." Texas turned, now facing Zuikaku again. She then circled her hands around the neck of the much taller girl. "lift me."

"Excuse me?"

"Lift me by the waist and spin. Try to not ruin my dress."

"Uhh...I'm not sure..."

"Don't offend me, Jap. I'm not that heavy."

"Ukh."

Having no choice, Zuikaku circled an arm around Texas' waist and lifted, realizing too late that this would put Texas' voluminous chest right on her face.

"Good. Keep a pair of our hands linked and maintain eye contact."

And thus, with one arm around texas' waist and one clutching her hand, Zuikaku started spinning slowly, desperately trying to maintain eye contact past Texas' breasts. Texas' free hand resting on Zuikaku's shoulder felt unnaturally heavy.

Seeing the not-so-subtle display, the other dancers around Zuikaku and Texas started to turn their heads to appreciate the sight. Some had even stopped dancing completely in order to give an ovation.

"The music's almost over. Drop me back on my feet. Quickly and aggressively."

Zuikaku kept an arm around Texas' waist as she landed her back onto the dance floor with a loud 'thud'. Texas then picked up Zuikaku hands for the last few steps before the music stopped.

When the music was finally over, Texas was sweating and panting lightly. Meanwhile, Zuikaku looked like she's almost dead, praying to her gods to put enough air in her lungs to keep her conscious.

"Well, I guess I'll see you later..." said Texas, wiping her sweaty brow. "...Crane."

Texas walked away alongside with the dispersing crowd, winking as she passed an exasperated Enterprise.

"Wow, nice boat."

Zuikaku looked behind her and saw a familiar submarine wearing a full waiter uniform, handling a tray full of drinks.

"You do realize someone's going to end up dead at this rate, right?"


	41. A Long Night (extra): Mothers

"So, to whom have you reserved the last dance for, Miss Tenryuu?" asked Juneau, swaying slowly to the piano's rhythm.

"No one. I'm not here for that." answered Tenryuu frankly. "I'm just here to keep an eye on the kids."

Tenryuu nodded to a spot outside of the dance floor, to one of the buffet table where USS The Sullivans was mingling with the four Akatsuki destroyers.

Sullivan was lifting her skirt, tap dancing in a speed so obviously off tune with the music that it couldn't be accidental. The Akatsuki sisters were laughing, but Sullivan was also shamelessly laughing with them.

"Aw, look at them." said Juneau in a motherly tone. "Thank you."

Tenryuu tilted her head. "Thank for what?"

"For Sullivan."

The music changed pace, and the two light cruisers adjusted their stance.

"She had been such a shy girl for so long, espescially around me. Seeing her with her actual friends feels...nice."

"Nice?"

"Yeah." Juneau nodded as they started to spin, using each other's momentum to accelerate their rotation speed. "It makes me feel safe knowing that she'll have someone to take care of her if I...if I..."

Juneau stuttered, before stopping her words completely.

"It's alright. I understand." said Tenryuu, tightening her grips on Juneau's hands.

It was a while before Juneau felt comfortable enough to speak again.

"You know, for such a small ship, you've got a big heart, Miss Tenryuu."

"Oh? Thank you." said Tenryuu, looking upwards to the American ship that's more than a head taller than her. Tenryuu said her thank genuinely, but Juneau suddenly looked flustered.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I meant that as a joke and-I'm not trying to say you're vertically challenged or-"

Tenryuu shook her head, chuckling at the antic of her dance partner.

"That wasn't sarcastic. I've come to term with my limitations long ago, Miss Juneau."

Juneau looked down at her pearly white shoes, embarassed.

"I just got flustered by my own joke. How low."

Tenryuu smiled. "It's okay. You're just a sensitive girl. I like it."

"like-?"

Juneau only managed to see Tenryuu in the eyes for a second before averting her face back to her shoes. Tenryuu decided to ignore this subtle gesture.

"Anyway, talking about friends, how about you, Miss Juneau? Have any of our ships given you a hard time?"

Juneau shook her head firmly. "N-No, you all have been very nice. Even that girl...i-26?"

"Nimu."

"Yeah...the one that sunk me." Juneau's lips trembled, obviously remembering a memory that she would rather bury deep in her subconscious. "She's been very nice to me. We watched a movie together one night, and we had a lot of meaningful discussion."

"What movie was it?"

"Uh...Saving Private Ryan."

Tenryuu nodded, understanding the significance of what Juneau had just said. It's probably safe to say that the aforementioned movie wouldn't even have existed if Juneau had not been sunk.

"You two must've had a very interesting conversation, then."

"We did."

Tenryuu and Juneau continued to dance until the music reached its second peak.

"You know what's funny?" Tenryuu began. "I've also made friends with your submarine."

"Albacore?" uttered Juneau with her mouth agape, clearly not believing her ears.

"Yeah." Tenryuu confirmed. "Although it's more that she forced me to be her friend."

"Is she harassing you? I could tell her to stop-"

"No, she's not." Tenryuu interjected, stopping the apologetic Juneau. "It's just that..."

Tenryuu put her gaze low, looking uncharacteristically shy in her officer uniform.

"It seems that our underwater friend was somehow convinced that I'm dating you."

Juneau legs promptly went numb, causing her to miss a step. Tenryuu barely avoided stepping on her foot.

"Ah, sorry." said Tenryuu, apologizing for a mistake not of her own.

Juneau kept silent. Tenryuu noticed that's her dance had suddenly become sluggish, as if she's moving merely by reflex.

"Anyway," Tenryuu resumed. "She kept offering me her 'love advices', which I had always refused because frankly, the very idea was just ridiculous."

"Was it really that ridiculous?"

"Huh?"

Juneau looked at Tenryuu longingly. Tenryuu could feel her shaking through their interconnected hands. Juneau was obviously braving herself, trying her hardest to not look away from Tenryuu's confused eyes.

"Miss Tenryuu." Juneau said slowly. "Would you have the last dance with me?" 


	42. A Long Night Pt 3: A Prelude to Chaos

**A/N: English is hard.**

* * *

"So, are you going to offer me advice?" asked Zuikaku with a somewhat worried tone.

"No, not tonight. Tonight I have my own shit to take care of."

Albacore switched her gaze from Zuikaku to the far side of the hall, where Zuikaku could see the submarine, i-19, talking to a middle-aged man.

Iku was wearing a very baggy looking dress, obviously trying cover up her figure as much as possible. It probably didn't work as well as she had hoped since even at this distance, Zuikaku's eyes were immediately drawn to the subtle movements of her 'assets' every time the submarine drew breath.

The middle-aged man talking to Iku probably noticed the movements even more than Zuikaku. He was getting closer and closer to Iku by the moment, his eyes staring without any hint of subtlety. Iku was obviously feeling uncomfortable, constantly trying to break off the conversation and stepping away, but the man put a hand on her shoulder, keeping her in place both physically and psychologically.

What a scum.

"Whoops, duty calls." said Albacore. Zuikaku blinked, and Albacore disappeared.

When Zuikaku realized what the American submarine had planned, Albacore was already standing beside the middle-aged man, with a tray that seemed to have even more glasses on it than before, all filled to the brim.

She then 'accidentally' dropped her tray on the man, inviting a feminine sounding yelp from his throat.

"Oh, dear! I'm so terribly sorry, sir!" said Albacore with a very masculine voice.

Albacore bent down as if she was trying to take care of the mess on the floor, but she clearly did something else instead since the man was suddenly sent flying, before dropping hard on the broken glasses.

"What are you doing sir? Are you drunk?" said Albacore with fake concern in her voice as she lifted the pained and confused man by the shoulder. "Shall we find you a place to rest?"

With probably a minor concussion and a lacerated arm, the man did not protest as Albacore dragged him out of sight.

Looking at the spectacle, Iku looked just as confused as Zuikaku was at the moment. The sheer audacity of Albacore's action basically pulled their brains into the twilight zone, making them doubtful of what did they just see.

However, Iku recovered quickly. She smiled gently at her invisible savior before she ran to look for her admiral, seeking the protection of her status.

"Beautiful smile, huh? I wish that people would see it instead of her more superficial bits."

Zuikaku looked back and saw Albacore standing there like nothing had happened, except for her slightly ruffled clothes. Her hands once again were occupied by a tray full of drinks.

"What did you do to the poor guy?"

Albacore simply turned around and walked, signaling for Zuikaku to follow her. As she headed to one relatively empty corner of the hall, she handed a drink to anyone who she passed.

"He will not be a threat anymore, neither physically, psychologically, nor politically." said Albacore, leaning against the corner. "I've made sure of it."

Zuikaku decided she didn't want to know what exactly Albacore did, but she still wanted to express her concern.

"That was a risky maneuver."

"I know." said Albacore, adjusting the drinks on her tray. "But I figured that I shouldn't lose to all these Jap subs."

"What?"

Albacore chuckled. "Look around you, friend. That bartender, for one."

Zuikaku looked at the bar located near the door of the hall, where a female bartender was making drinks to orders. The bartender felt weirdly familiar to Zuikaku.

"Imagine her with blond hair and eyeglasses." suggested Albacore.

Realization struck Zuikaku.

"Hachi?"

"The i-8, aye, and she's not alone. look at the doorwoman, and that waitress standing near that arguing married couple."

Zuikaku eyes followed Albacore's finger.

"Goya? Imuya?"

"Very well disguised, just like many other submarines in this room."

Confused, Zuikaku turned her attention back to Albacore.

"Okay, I bite. What the heck is happening?"

Albacore smiled. "Well, apparently your Admiral Goto is not as soft as I had initially thought her to be."

"What do you mean?"

Albacore's grin went wilder, making Zuikaku worried about what she was about to say next. Her worry was justified.

"In every event like this one, where important people gather, our dear Admiral Goto likes to send in a few of her most trusted submarines to do some shady recon work. Gathering information, blackmail materials, anything to gain edges over potential political opponents."

"Blackmail?" Zuikaku parroted. Either her ears were playing a trick on her, or it was Albacore that was playing a trick on her. Either way, she found it hard to believe what she had just heard.

"Aye, blackmail." confirmed Albacore. "She also likes to send particularly capable submarines to work as maids or other kinds of workers in the households of government officials and figures of authority. Installing cameras, microphones, tapping their phones... Oh, if only you knew what our dear admiral had in her laptop..."

Zuikaku shook her head. "You're toying with me, aren't you?"

"Feel free to believe that I am lying, carrier. I myself really like my new admiral."

Zuikaku tilted her head. "You like working under a sly, scheming, and dishonest superior officer?"

Albacore licked her lip. "You know that cliche in shows and movies when an idiotic general make life difficult for the very competent captain main character, probably out of spite or his own self-interest, and in the process endangering the men and personnel under his command?"

"Can't say I'm a movie buff."

"Well, let's just say that kind of fate will not befall our dear Admiral Goto."

Zuikaku went silent. She was rightfully shocked. For so long she had thought of her admiral as a competent woman, but never once she had thought that her admiral would fit right in with the Illuminati.

"So, you were sent here by the admiral?"

"Me personally? No. I'm still a newcomer, and an American at that. She has yet to trust me completely. I'm just here as an independent observer tonight."

"And what does that mean, exactly?"

Albacore stood upright, fixing her posture. Her expression suddenly turned jovial, like a kid at the entrance of an amusement park.

"In other words? I'm having a blast!" Albacore said with a grin. "So let's stop talking about heavy stuff! Drink?"

Albacore offered her tray, which Zuikaku looked at with suspicion.

"What are those?"

"No idea. I just nabbed them from somewhere. They look like lemonade, though."

"Hm..."

When she thought about it, she's indeed rather thirsty. After the regiment Texas had put her through, Zuikaku felt like she could drink an entire ocean.

"Sure."

Zuikaku took one full glass from the tray, and thoughtlessly drank it.

Suddenly, a finely clothed gentleman approached Albacore.

"Excuse me, ma'am. I'm a sommelier, and I believe I am familiar with that particular liquor in your hands. May I have a taste?"

"Heck, knock yourself out, friend."

The sommelier took another full glass from Albacore's tray. He only managed to take a single sip before stopping.

"Ah, yes. A quadrupled whiskey. I haven't tasted it ever since Bruichladdich's exhibition two years ago. Ninety-two percent alcohol is pretty harsh this early in the night." the sommelier raised his glass. "Well, see you all next week."

The sommelier suddenly dropped his glass onto the floor, then his eyes rolled behind his skull before he promptly collapsed onto the floor with a loud 'thud', either dead or unconscious, hopefully the latter.

"I..." Zuikaku looked at her empty glass as she started losing consciousness. "I can't believe I was that naive..."

"Friend." called Albacore, sounding genuinely sorry. "I know what you're thinking, but I really had no idea."

Albacore's voice sounded distant in Zuikaku's ears. In fact, the only voice she could hear right then was her own voice cursing.

 _'Aw...shit.'_

* * *

 **ooo  
**

 **ooo**

 **Found this great video on youtube about the comparison of Enterprise and Zuikaku.**

 **watch?v=Zkh8jIbVVB8**


	43. A Long Night Pt 4: The Dark Side

**A/N: You know, I never actually had any turkey. How is it, compared to a regular chicken?**

* * *

Kaga walked alone through a corridor that had been assigned as the backrooms for the stage performers.

She was tired. But most irritatingly, she wasn't tired from singing for hours on end. No, the appreciation of the audience and the gratitude of her admiral was more than enough to wash away her fatigue. What made her so exhausted instead was being forced to witness the antics of the second carrier of the Fifth Carrier Division all throughout her performance.

Kaga had tried her hardest to ignore Zuikaku, at least for the duration of her performance, but it had almost felt as if the blasted turkey was deliberately doing her aggravating acts of silliness right in front of Kaga's eyes. It's not like Kaga had been actively looking for Zuikaku in the crowd.

Still fuming, Kaga entered her designated dressing room. She needed to calm down, rest, and fix her make-up before her next session after the first dance ended, and she's already behind schedule.

Her dressing room was dark, but Kaga could still see her soft chair located in front of a small table and mirror set, where her make-up and accessories were located. With a sigh, Kaga plunged herself into the chair, ruffling her kimono in the process. Even in the air-conditioned room, Kaga was still feeling stuffed inside her heavy clothing. Japanese ceremonial outfits might be nice to look at, but they're not exactly made to move around in. Kaga loosened her sash and opened the collar of her kimono, letting the sweat that had been building up on her breasts evaporated.

"Beautiful."

Kaga immediately went into combat mode. She jumped out of her seat and rolled sideway. Taking a battle stance, she lowered her body parallel to the ground in a very primal way unbefitting her Japanese clothes, ending up ripping a part of her skirt.

She pulled out a tanto blade hidden under her sash and prowled backward, creating some distance between her and the figure that apparently had been hiding behind the door when Kaga entered the room.

"Oh, my. The proud carrier of the first division is flaunting herself to me. I am so lucky."

Kaga looked down and realized that in her lowered stance, she was basically pointing her exposed legs and breasts at the invader. Kaga quickly and haphazardly tried to retain her modesty, while at the same time keeping her blade at the direction of the figure.

"Show yourself." Kaga demanded, her voice was still as forceful and commanding in her disheveled state as if she were on the battlefield.

The figure stepped forward into the tiny patch of light leaking out of the tiny window on top of the door.

Kaga eyes widened. "Fifth CarDiv?"

The younger carrier looked into her cocktail glass, filled with a goldish concoction. "It's Zuikaku, dammit." she said, almost sulking.

"I don't care what your name is. Get out." Kaga ordered, still pointing her blade.

"Don't wanna. The light outside is too bright. Hurt." Zuikaku slurred.

Irritated, Kaga immediately reached for the light switch on the wall nearest to her. The light turned on and Zuikaku promptly squinted in pain, trying to cover her reddened face.

"You're drunk." Kaga accused.

"I'm not." Zuikaku denied.

"In a public event. Have you no shame?" said Kaga, her voice full of poison.

Zuikaku looked at Kaga with empty eyes, taking a single sip from her glass.

"Maybe." said Zuikaku.

Kaga's expression turned from anger to almost pity.

"You know what? I don't even care anymore." Kaga stood up straight, dropping her blade arm. "Just go out and trouble your American friends. Leave me alone and we shall forget about this."

Zuikaku stared at Kaga silently for a while, before she lifted her glass and finished her drink in one gulp.

"You really hate them, do you? The Americans?" said Zuikaku as she approached the table to put her glass down, getting closer to Kaga in the process.

"Isn't that obvious?" said Kaga, fixing her sash and putting her blade back in its scabbard. "For me, it is you that's strange. How come you're so friendly to them, and so quickly? They destroyed our country, disbanded our military, and squashed our pride enough that half of our people today see us as demons."

Zuikaku smiled, looking at her reflection in Kaga's mirror. "True. Many of our people see us as the symbol of our nation's greatest mistake. But they're right in a way."

"Hmph." Kaga scoffed. "I guess I couldn't expect more from someone so willing to dance with the enemy."

"So you still think of them that way?"

Zuikaku raised her head, looking at the seemingly furious Kaga without flinching. Her own face was calm, either because of the alcohol or her own inner peace.

"Senpai." Zuikaku called in a respectful tone. "Your war achievements were glorious. But you died too quickly."

"Watch your mouth, brat." Kaga threatened. Zuikaku was too intoxicated to care, however.

"There is something you don't know about war, something that I do know. Would you like to listen?"

"Oh? So the newborn baby seeks to teach her elder?" mocked Kaga. "This should be good."

Listening to Kaga's dismissive attitude, Zuikaku sighed.

"This is something I learned in the last years of the war."

Zuikaku turned toward Kaga, her eyes vicious. Kaga found herself subconsciously taking a step back.

"Lose one friend, and you'll grieve."

Zuikaku took a step forward, and Kaga took another step back.

"Lose a dozen friends, and you'll seek revenge. This is you, senpai."

Zuikaku took another step, and Kaga felt her back pressing against the wall.

"Lose a hundred, and you'll stop caring."

Zuikaku took yet another step. Kaga now could smell the alcohol in the air.

"Imagine your comrades, the people you've thought of as your mother, sisters, your children...the people you love."

Zuikaku put her hands on Kaga's shoulders. Kaga wanted to kick the younger carrier, but her body suddenly felt stiff.

"Imagine you wake up one day and you cannot see the face of the people you've once thought as your family. No matter how hard you try, all you can see are numbers, just names to soon be added to the graveyard."

Zuikaku raised one hand, cupping the side of Kaga's face. Kaga felt her neck losing strength, forcing her to lean her head against Zuikaku's hand.

"We got more and more desperate as we realized that we were going to die. The mentality of a society often changes in wartime, and we were no different. I saw our entire moral code changing. What was good or evil was no longer decided with the customs we had once held high as our pride, but solely by its value in the collective war effort. Prostitution, drug use, everything to help our soldiers relaxed and battle ready was accepted. Espionage was regarded as worse than rape or infanticide. Criminals, arsonists, mad men, high school dropouts, and illiterates were seen as heroes as long as they could hold guns and fight. I saw things that would make you glad that you died, senpai."

The world shook. It took a while for Kaga to realize it's her that was shaking.

"Then I too, died, broken and disillusioned, wondering what I was even fighting for." Zuikaku continued, her face was even redder than before, and tears were starting to well up in her eyes, but her mouth was smiling.

"But then I woke up. I was brought to this world once more, and I saw that we have recovered. Parents once again prefer to marry their daughters to doctors, businessmen, and other good men instead of soldiers. Every loss of human life is mourned and remembered, and not left to rot on the street like it was. The military has become an afterthought to food, livelihood, and the future of our children, and you know what I realized, senpai?"

Zuikaku raised another hand, holding Kaga's face by both sides while looking at her with serious eyes and a sad smile.

"A society that cannot move away from its war mentality is doomed."

Zuikaku let go of Kaga and took a step back. Kaga suddenly felt as if a critical base post had been moved, and she almost slumped onto the floor before she managed to catch herself.

"You are full of anger, senpai. I can see it. You charge and strike at your enemy without thinking of the people behind you. When you destroy an enemy, you do not think of the people of Japan, only that an enemy is destroyed. You'll gladly die again to win the war, but only to prove yourself."

Zuikaku paused, waiting to see if Kaga would punch her, kick her, cut her, or react to her accusations in any way. When she was answered only by silence, Zuikaku opened her mouth again.

"Please, let go of your anger, senpai."

Zuikaku once again took a step forward. Still drunk, she was not concerned by the fact that Kaga could easily stab her.

She hugged her.

"I don't want to lose you again." Zuikaku whispered into Kaga's ear. When she let go, Kaga became almost completely limp, stumbling backward until she found a wall to support herself. She glared at Zuikaku with eyes wide, her expression borderline on madness, as if she were a restrained beast ready to pounce and kill Zuikaku. But she couldn't. Something was holding her back.

"Please consider what I've said." Zuikaku requested as she started walking towards the door. "Goodbye."

The door closed, and Kaga, now alone in the room, slowly collected herself, but no matter how hard she tried she could not collect herself back into the prideful carrier she once was.

Slowly, Kaga walked to the front of her mirror, looking at her reflection as Zuikaku had done before.

Kaga clenched her fist, and the sound of shattering glass could be heard across the corridor.


	44. A Long Night Pt 5: Double Strike

"A dry martini in a cocktail glass. Three measures of Gordon's, one of grain vodka, half a measure of Cocchi Americano, shaken until ice-cold." said Enterprise to one of Admiral Goto's submarines, posing herself as a bartender.

"With a lemon slice?" asked Hachi.

"Yeah."

The Japanese submarine quickly worked the bottles.

"You armed?" asked Enterprise, having made clear that she's completely aware of the submarine's identity.

"I have a single deck gun, but our purpose is not to fight."

"Hm..."

Hachi put a glass of yellowish drink on the table in front of Enterprise, then she took out a fruit knife and delicately put a thin slice of lemon inside the glass to slowly mix with the alcohol.

"This'll be quite strong. Honestly I've never heard of this recipe before."

"Maybe because you're not a real bartender." said Enterprise, taking a sip from her glass. "It's a contemporary Vesper recipe."

"Well, I usually pose as a maid, not a bartender."

Enterprise nodded, looking at her reflection in her glass.

"So...got anything the admiral could use yet?"

Hachi shrugged as she started cleaning up some glasses with a soft towel.

"Eh, nothing she could use for a blackmail, but I believe what I've gathered could still provide her with some leverage for the upcoming naval review. How about you? having a productive night?"

Having her question suddenly returned to her, Enterprise sighed.

"Not really."

"Spousal difficulties?"

"Mmh..."

Enterprise couldn't give her answer before another carrier of Admiral Goto's retinue took her seat at the bar.

"Could...could I have a glass of warm milk, please?" ordered the carrier Katsuragi awkwardly, playing with the hem of her green cocktail dress.

"Sure." said Hachi.

"What, you're trying to look like a badass or something?" said Enterprise, smiling snidely with her half-empty cocktail glass.

"Huh?" Katsuragi looked at Enterprise, confused.

"Ordering a glass of milk in a bar? A bit cliche, don't you think?"

"She has a heart condition." said Hachi.

Enterprise promptly looked guilty.

"Oh, god, I'm really sorry, I didn't mean...it was just..."

"It's fine." said Katsuragi, she then switched her attention towards the disguised Hachi. "Have we met before, ma'am?"

"Er...no, milady. But some of my previous patrons seemed to care very much about you." Hachi said with a fake voice.

"Ah, I see."

Katsuragi received her glass of warm milk and took one very grateful gulp.

"Thank you." said Katsuragi, carefully wiping her lips.

"Anytime." Hachi nodded.

As Hachi returned to her glasses, Enterprise and Katsuragi drank in silence, awkwardly avoiding each other's eyes. Unexpectedly, it was the meek Katsuragi that finally decided to speak first.

"Not having a good night?"

Enterprise groaned, laying her body on the bar in a defeated manner.

"Mhh...is it that obvious?"

"You look a bit...disappointed. Has Zuikaku-senpai done something wrong?"

Enterprise sat upright, raising her brow at Katsuragi.

"That's a very quick assumption there, kid."

Katsuragi looked down solemnly at the plain white field in her glass.

"I know that loving her could be very painful at times."

It took a moment for the gears in Enterprise's head to process Katsuragi's words.

"You mean...are you..?"

Katsuragi did not answer. Instead, she looked at Enterprise with her gentle turquoise eyes and smiled sadly, pretty much confirming Enterprise's suspicion.

"I'm sorry." said Enterprise without realizing.

Katsuragi shook her head gently.

"It's okay. I don't even think that she ever saw me as an actual candidate."

Enterprise sat still until she suddenly broke into an ironic chuckle. She then finished her drink in one large gulp.

"I swear, that roasted bird is the enemy of all women."

"She's a woman, though." Katsuragi smiled, gently sipping her warm milk.

"So, you like milk?" asked Enterprise, if only to continue the conversation.

"Well, at first I thought that if I could make them bigger, senpai would finally see me as a woman. I ended up liking them over time. But now looking at..." Katsuragi lowered her gaze, obviously looking at Enterprise's upper torso. "...perhaps I shouldn't have bothered."

Enterprise promptly flustered when she realized the implication. "H-hey! they're perfectly adequ-"

BLAM!

The American carrier was not given the chance to defend her figure before the door of the hall slammed open and a figure entered, immediately flopping onto the ground and drawing the attention of almost everybody presents.

"S-senpai?!" Katsuragi realized in horror.

"Oh, what the fuck!" Enterprise shouted, more in irritation than horror. She jumped off her seat and immediately scrammed towards Zuikaku, Katsuragi tailing her closely all the way.

When the two carriers reached Zuikaku, a good crowd had already formed around her.

"Excuse me." Enterprise excused herself past the crowd before kneeling beside Zuikaku.

In complete dishonor of her uniform, Zuikaku was laying on her back on the floor, smiling with her eyes closed. Her limbs were spread in a very unnatural way, making her looked like a stringless marionette. Her face was very red.

"Is...is she drunk?" asked Katsuragi.

Enterprise looked around her and saw that people were staring. Staring at one of their greatest protectors and defenders, laying on the floor like a common scum of the earth.

Enterprise pulled Katsuragi to her side.

"We need to get her out of here." Enterprise whispered.

Katsuragi briefly looked confused, before she quickly grasped the weight of the situation.

"The second floor of the hotel is mostly office spaces, so it's probably quite empty at this hour." informed Katsuragi.

"Good. Help me pick her up."

"O-okay!"

With great difficulty, Enterprise lifted and put the weight of the larger Japanese carrier on her shoulders, forcing her to stand up. Katsuragi quickly moved to the other side of Zuikaku and put her neck under her arm, supporting her.

Under the judging eyes of the high-class partygoers, the three carriers slowly stumbled through the door and into the corridor outside.

"...mmm, no, I don't want the food or the bath..." mumbled Zuikaku under her breath.

"What the heck is she talking about? Sheesh." said Enterprise, visibly exasperated. Katsuragi, on the other hand, was starting to blush crimson.

As soon as they entered the elevator, Enterprise jammed her thumb into the button that would bring them to the second floor.

"Go look for a restroom." ordered Enterprise. Katsuragi immediately ran out of the elevator ahead of the other two carriers.

"Ehehe...she's such a nice girl, right...?" Zuikaku mumbled.

Katsuragi came back in no more than twenty seconds.

"I found one near the far corner, it seems to be empty." said Katsuragi, her breath heavy.

"Thanks. You alright?"

"Yeah," answered Katsuragi, wheezing while grabbing her chest. "just...just need to catch my breath."

"Take it easy, alright? I'll handle her from here."

Enterprise then carried Zuikaku by herself in their way toward the restroom, insisting that Katsuragi should just rest even though she's visibly struggling with the weight.

"Ukh, friggin Japanese and their riveted, treaty breaking hull..." Enterprise wheezed as they entered the restroom.

"Open that cubicle."

Katsuragi opened the cubicle at the furthest end of the room, and the three carriers entered.

"Now, what are we going to do with you?" asked Enterprise to nobody in particular as she seated Zuikaku on the closed toilet.

"Mmh...E, kiss me."

Katsuragi looked visibly shocked, but Enterprise was too occupied to even flinch.

"No." she answered flatly.

"Aw..."

Enterprise put a hand on her chin, thinking.

"Maybe I could call the admiral, get you evacuated from the premise..."

"Tch. Fine. Katsuragi-chan. You kiss me, then."

"Wait, what?"

Before anyone could say anything, Zuikaku grabbed Katsuragi by the collar and yanked. Losing balance, Katsuragi was forced to support herself on Zuikaku, her hands positioned precariously on Zuikaku's lap.

Zuikaku took a moment to appreciate the look of shock and confusion on Katsuragi's face, a mere inches in front of her own, before pressing her lips into hers.

"Wha...wha..."

Enterprise's stutter went ignored as Zuikaku concentrated on her tongue, trying to break Katsuragi's defense. Katsuragi struggled slightly, pushing against Zuikaku with half-hearted stregth, but Zuikaku was pushing the back of her head with one hand and pulling her collar with the other, keeping the pressure.

After a while, Katsuragi ceased her token resistance and went limp, and for ten seconds that certainly felt much longer for Enterprise, wet sucking noise filled the soundproofed cubicle. When Zuikaku finally let go of Katsuragi, the younger Japanese carrier immediately fell onto the percelain floor, motionless with her eyes staring blankly at the ceiling light.

"How could you..?" whispered Enterprise as she looked at the catatonic Katsuragi on the floor.

"Hm?" Zuikaku turned towards Enterprise, looking innocent while at the same time wiping Katsuragi's saliva from the edge of her mouth. "What? It was just a platonic western greeting, right?"

"Like hell it was!" Enterprise lashed out in anger, but only because her pride would not allow her to cry.

"Oh?"

Zuikaku stood up. There was still a lot of space in that luxurious cubicle, but somehow Enterprise felt cornered by the larger carrier.

"Are you jealous?" asked Zuikaku.

"Well, I never agreed to an open relationship." Enterprise said calmly, trying to keep as much of her dignity as possible.

"Aw, how cute."

Zuikaku leaned forwards, ready to do to Enterprise what she had done to Katsuragi.

SLAP!

Enterprise's hand slammed against Zuikaku's cheek. It slammed hard enough that for a moment, Enterprise couldn't feel her hand. However, Zuikaku didn't even flinch from the impact.

Zuikaku laughed lightly. "You're strong, E, but without your planes you're really quite weak, arent you?"

Zuikaku grabbed Enterprise by the wrist, and Enterprise was about to knee her in the groin in a defensive reflex when she felt a hand touching her lower back.

"EEEK..!?" Enterprise shrieked as numbnes began to spread from the spot where Zuikaku's finger touched her, down past her groin and to her legs. Zuikaku might not remember their first night, but her body still remembered where to touch.

"Fufu...you're like a book, you know? I can just run a finger along your spine and crack you open, and you'll lay yourself bare for me."

Zuikaku gently shoved Enterprise with both hands, and after strength had left her legs Enterprise was powerless to keep herself from falling backward. The only thing keeping her upright was the wall of the cubicle.

Enterprise couldn't even struggle when Zuikaku suddenly lifted her wrists and slammed them painfully onto the wall above her head, keeping them there. With her hands forcefully held up, Enterprise was vulnerable, and that's when Zuikaku decided to strike.

It was just a light peck on her lips, but Enterprise felt like someone had planted an active volcano inside her.

"You know, I really hate stories about a love triangle, or anything of the kind." Zuikaku whispered, all the while maintaining eye contact with Enterprise like a first class molester. "I really can't understand it when an author writes multiple endearing characters, yet only giving two of them a proper happy ending while leaving the rest hanging, not even giving them the luxury of their own proper endings. It always feels like a cop-out."

Zuikaku turned her eyes away from Enterprise for a moment in order to gaze at Katsuragi, still lying motionless on the floor.

"I don't want my choice to hurt anyone." said Zuikaku as she returned her eyes to Enterprise. "So let's play along nicely, okay? Together, all three of us."

There was definitely an obvious flaw in Zuikaku's logic, but Enterprise didn't care. Couldn't care. Her attention was solely focused on Zuikaku's lips drawing closer and closer to her face. She even didn't pay that much attention when she felt her skirt being lifted.

Enterprise closed her eyes.

...and then a sound of a body hitting the floor could be heard, followed by the sound of light snoring.

Enterprise opened her eyes, and saw the second carrier of the IJN's fifth carrier division sleeping like a baby on her feet.

* * *

 **A/N: Stay sober, folks.**


	45. Action Stations!

Zuikaku regained consciousness with her face facing the inside of a toilet.

"Well, now that's unpleasant."

Zuikaku gave the toilet a flush. She was feeling dizzy, and with what's probably her entire stomach content just went down the pipe, she's also feeling pretty hungry.

Zuikaku checked the internal clock located inside her bridge. It was almost midnight, so she'd probably missed the last dance, but what attracting Zuikaku's attention even more than missing the dance was the group of American fairies inside her.

Zuikaku put a hand under her clothes, coaxing the American fairies to come out. One fairy grabbed onto her hand, and Zuikaku pulled out.

"You executed the waste disposal procedure?" asked Zuikaku. The only answer she was given was a very annoyed look from the fairy.

"I guess I should be glad you didn't open the other port. You're Enterprise's?"

The fairy nodded half-heartedly, still looking angry.

"Well, then let's go find her."

Zuikaku walked out of the restroom and was annoyed when she didn't recognize the corridor outside the door. Zuikaku concentrated, but try as she might the most recent memory she could gather was that of Albacore's laughing face.

"Damn that submarine." Zuikaku cursed under her breath.

Zuikaku quickly realized that she was on the second floor. She found the elevator with relatively little difficulty and went down.

When the elevator door opened, Enterprise was about to board when she realized who was already inside.

"Ah, good. I was about to check on you." said Enterprise. Her voice was somewhat more formal that Zuikaku was used to. "Then I guess I could leave now."

"Ah, E." Zuikaku stepped off the elevator. "Uhh...did I do anything?"

Enterprise made a face that clearly said she couldn't believe what she just heard. She bit her lips and her face reddened in frustration.

"Uh...E? whatever I did, I'm sorry." Zuikaku apologized. She knew it would sound awkward, but she really couldn't think of anything else to say.

Enterprise sighed and put one hand on her temple, trying to regain enough composure to speak.

"Oh, of course you don't remember." said Enterprise, stepping away from the elevator and Zuikaku. "Don't worry. Not many people actually saw your gaffe. But you might want to apologize to Katsuragi."

"Did I do something remarkably stupid?"

Zuikaku was answered by silence as Enterprise turned and starting to walk away, leaving behind a bewildered Zuikaku.

"H-Hey! E!"

Zuikaku's call fell on deaf ears as Enterprise continued walking. Desperate, Zuikaku's mind went to the only reason it could comprehend of why Enterprise was so angry.

"I...I'm sorry I missed our dance!" Zuikaku shouted, her voice reverberating in the almost empty corridor.

Enterprise stopped, and when she looked back at Zuikaku her neck barely moved, as if the concept of even looking at Zuikaku were somehow disgusting for her.

"Crane? Would you do me a favor?"

Zuikaku was too happy to oblige. "Of course! Anything!"

Enterprise looked at Zuikaku straight in the eyes, making sure that the crane fully realized that what she was about to say was serious.

"Please don't speak to me for a while."

Zuikaku stopped.

Her legs stopped, her mind stopped, and her heart stopped. Zuikaku merely froze, unable to talk or even think as Enterprise walked off and disappeared around a corner.

When Zuikaku finally regained control of her limbs, she felt weak, weak enough that she had to lean on the nearest wall.

Making things worse, Zuikaku immediately heard a voice that she'd rather not heard right at the moment.

"So...uh, this is probably my fault." said the submarine Albacore, still in her waiter uniform.

"What did you give me, anyway?" Zuikaku asked half-heartedly.

"Something that really should've been watered down before consumption. In its pure form, most humans would either pass out or spit it out before it harmed them."

"Well, I'm not human, am I?"

"No. If you were human then you'd be dead with the amount you actually drank. Apparently I used the large glasses meant for lighter drinks."

Zuikaku buried her face in her palm. She was feeling angry with a whole lot of things, but Albacore was the closest.

"Just go away, okay? I'm not in the mood to talk with you." said Zuikaku tiredly.

Albacore smiled awkwardly. "Look, I know I messed up, okay? But I can fix this! Let me just talk to E and..."

"No, just stop."

"I..."

"Stop it!" Zuikaku said louder, almost shouting.

Albacore went quiet.

"I'm sorry, I know this is an amusing game for you, but I kindly ask you to leave us alone." Zuikaku said in a tone that made her sound like a parent scolding a stubborn child.

"But..."

"Go away. You've done enough damage as it is."

Albacore looked down at her well-shined shoes. She was fidgeting awkwardly, playing with her fingers as she desperately sought good enough words to say to at least not be hated by the Japanese carrier. She was looking so guilty that if Zuikaku weren't so angry she might've taken pity on the poor girl, but as it was, Zuikaku just wanted to not look at Albacore's face.

"I...I see." Albacore finally said, smiling awkwardly while pulling her fingers. "I didn't mean to...I..."

Albacore looked up to Zuikaku, hoping for a sign of mercy on her face. When Zuikaku only gave her an angry glare, Albacore's eyes went back to her shoes.

"...I guess, uh, I guess I'll just leave." Albacore turned. "Sorry."

The way Albacore said that last word was so meek, so defeated that it actually stung Zuikaku's conscience for a while, before she remembered that she had someone better to pity, namely herself.

Just a few hours ago, Zuikaku was enthusiastic, believing that her night would be great and unforgettable. Now, Zuikaku could barely remember half of her night and from what she could actually pick up, her night was certainly not that great. In fact, it was a disaster.

Zuikaku felt like she had hit rock bottom, that things couldn't possibly get any worse, and of course, the moment she felt that way was the moment the explosion happened.

 ** _BLAAM!  
_**

As if lightning had struck right next to her ear, Zuikaku felt her eardrums getting blasted by a soundwave strong enough to overwhelm her senses. Losing balance, she slammed her head hard against the wall and fell onto the floor. When she finally managed to raise her head again, she could see the lights on the ceiling flickering and hear the muffled scream of people even through her ringing ears.

"What was that..?" asked Zuikaku, picking herself up from the floor. She looked around and the only one that could actually answer her question was Albacore, standing a few meters away from Zuikaku.

Albacore was standing still, unnaturally so. Looking at her back, Zuikaku thought that Albacore almost looked serene, as if nothing in the world matters. That was until she turned around, her hands holding her stomach right above her kidney.

"Ah." Albacore uttered with only the slightest of surprise, like she had just remembered an exam. However, the color red that oozed out from between her fingers betrayed her serenity.

"I'm hit." Albacore announced flatly as she fell.

Driven solely by her soldier instinct, Zuikaku leaped forward, catching Albacore before her body could hit the floor. As Albacore's hands went limp, blood started pouring freely from the hole in her stomach and onto the ground, its color mixing almost seamlessly with the red carpet.

"Stay with me." said Zuikaku, less begging and more ordering as she laid the gruesomely damaged submarine on the floor.

"F...forgive me." said Albacore desperately through the blood pooling in her lungs, her bloodied hand grasping Zuikaku's. "Forgive me."

"Yes! Yes! You've been forgiven! Now stay quiet!" said Zuikaku as she mustered her fairies to form a repair party.

Hearing Zuikaku's absolution, Albacore smiled, and for a moment she was looking happy and content before she finally closed her eyes.

"Oi! That was not my permission to die!"

Zuikaku was in the process of taking off the jacket to turn into a makeshift bandage when the second explosion happened.

Zuikaku realized that the sound came from the direction of the Zion hall, where the party was being held. Dread struck Zuikaku as she recognized the sound as the blast of an Abyssal sixteen-inch gun. Worse yet, the hole in Albacore's body was small, whatever did this to her was something different from the thing in the hall, something close.

Zuikaku looked around, seeking for the enemy. She almost regretted it when she actually found one.

It was a small girl, a child, but her pale skin betrayed her nature almost as much as the four-inch battery attached to her back.

She was standing by the end of the corridor in the direction of the lobby, looking at Zuikaku with eyes darker than the abyss where it had come from. She then grinned wide, wider than any human could ever hope to do, and spoke.

 _"I MISSED."_

The voice of the Abyssal dug deep into Zuikaku's subconscious and touched the most primal aspect of her psyche. Her professionalism and her worry for the submarine were the only things keeping her from running away.

"Shit."

Zuikaku did have a mean to defend herself in the form of her wrist-mounted crossbow, but she also knew that she was a lightly armored carrier, on land and in the open facing an enemy surface ship at basically point blank range.

Zuikaku was not given the time to think up any rational course of action. The Abyssal destroyer opened up, and all Zuikaku could see was the flash of the four-inch guns being fired at her before her body reacted almost by reflex.

With Albacore being too weak to move, there was only one thing Zuikaku could do.

"AHH!"

Zuikaku screamed in pain as she was hit by high explosive shells designed to burn and put her deck out of commission. The destroyer kept on firing, but Zuikaku held firm, kneeling over the wounded, comatose Albacore like a mother bird.

 _"LOADING NAPALM SHELLS."_

Zuikaku could hear the destroyer's guns reloading, and she knew her end was approaching. Zuikaku screamed.

Zuikaku screamed a shameless cry. Not caring about pride or any other superficial thing, she let her fear leaked into her voice. It was not the scream of a professional soldier asking for back up, it was the scream of a scared child in danger.

"HEEEEEEELP!"

As if answering Zuikaku's call, the wall nearest to the destroyer exploded, and a giant white woman made of steel was launched into the wall on the other side.

"What the..."

The destroyer that had been firing at Zuikaku looked just as surprised as Zuikaku was, staring in disbelief at her fellow Abyssal, a battleship, lying dead on the floor.

"Knock knock." said a sweet female voice from the hole in the wall. "It's the United States."

Zuikaku watched in relief while the destroyer watched in horror as the battleship Texas walked through the hole, her yellow dress barely scratched. Her face was red from exertion, but she looked anything but tired. In fact, she looked invigorated as she approached the offending destroyer.

The destroyer tried to run, but Texas grabbed the back of her head with one hand and effortlessly lifted her entire body. Texas then walked to the closest wall and...

 _ **Blam!**_

Texas started slamming the destroyer's face against the wall, over, and over, and over again, each slam causing a sound that Zuikaku could've easily mistaken as a shotgun blast.

After the umpteenth slam, the destroyer went limp, and Texas unceremoniously threw her beside the body of the dead battleship.

"Well, that was scruffy." said Texas, wiping her hand on the wall. Said wall soon got smeared by Abyssal brain matter.

Looking at Texas approaching, a wave of calmness poured over Zuikaku. She felt like a lost child who had just found her mother. Everything's going to be fine now, Texas had come.

Suddenly not in immediate danger of losing her life, Zuikaku suddenly felt sleepy, either from the sudden absent of adrenaline or from the damage she had suffered. She was about to fall when Texas put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"You can't sleep yet, dear."

Another loud explosion could be heard, and the screaming of people got louder before they're suddenly silenced.

"We've got a lot of trouble to take care of."

* * *

 **OO**

 **OO**

 **A/N: So, I have something kind of important I need to take care of in the next few weeks. Updates might slow down for a bit.** **But hey, I've said that a couple of times before, too. So who knows, eh?**


	46. The Heavenly Dragon Protects

Tenryuu had no idea what just happened. One moment she was fending off a group of people who's trying to coax her into removing her eyepatch to see her wound, next her ears were ringing and she was on the floor.

Tenryuu was not exactly sure how long she was unconscious, but it was definitely long enough for her admiral to pick up the situation and devised a course of action.

"Ooyodo, mobilize my submarines, scout for evacuation routes. Then gather our surface ships and prepare for hand to hand combat. Hackett, stick close to me."

"Ugh...admiral?"

"Ah, Tenryuu, awake at last."

Tenryuu looked around. It appeared that she had been dragged behind an upturned table. Ooyodo, Admiral Goto, and an American admiral were kneeling around her. She felt numb.

"Is my sword arm alright?"

"If that's your first question after waking up, then you can fight." said the admiral. "Please tell me you have your sword."

Tenryuu touched the jacket of her officer uniform and felt the comfort of steel under it.

"I have a wakizashi." confirmed Tenryuu to her admiral as she pulled a shorter version of her sword from under her clothes. It was a lot uglier than her usual sword, mostly stamped metal with limited smithing done to make it at least somewhat effective against an Abyssal. The blade was attached to a shin-gunto type handle, mass produced sleeve the kind you'd find in a souvenir shop attached to cheap wall-hanger 'swords'.

"Heh, I knew you wouldn't leave the base unarmed. Any other time I'd call you paranoid, but right now you're one of the few with any real capability to fight." said the Admiral.

"Admiral." Ooyodo suddenly called. "Report from the submarines. All guests that are directly running for the exits are isolated and gunned down by the Abyssal ships."

Tenryuu couldn't quite hear it, but she knew the admiral was cursing.

"Send some ships to blockade the doors. Keep the guests in this hall, at least we can make a defensive perimeter here."

"Acknowledged."

As Ooyodo went back to her internal radio, Tenryuu's attention was dragged to the sound of battle raging across the hall. Screaming of civilians, steel clashing against steel, and the occasional explosions of Abyssal naval cannons.

Struggling against a possible bruised spine, Tenryuu picked herself up. She raised her neck and saw a spectacle that a long time ago might urge her blood to boil.

Numerous Abyssal battleships were on the dance floor. They were huge and monstrous, each with a mechanical body, large lipless mouth, and muscular hands that seemed like an insult to human anatomy. Tenryuu immediately recognized them as the grunts of the battleships, ones that usually accompanied the more humanlike Hime-class battleships.

As their partners on the dance floor were Admiral Goto's own battleships, unarmed yet vicious. Iowa, Kongo, Nagato, and Bismarck, Every battleship that was invited to the party sans Warspite were fighting in a circle around the enemy battleships, keeping them on the center of the dance floor and away from the cowering civilians near the edges of the hall.

Iowa was fighting closest to the center. She was barefooted and the top of her dress had long since disappeared, leaving her chest only covered by a pink lacy bra probably large enough to dam off the Shinano.

Kongou looked untouched, no matter how hard her opponent was trying to make it otherwise. She used her relatively slim and small stature to easily slip between the massive hands of her enemy, somehow managed to still look gallant in her dress uniform even when fighting for her life.

Bismarck looked bloodlusted. Both her blood and that of her enemy were smeared across her chest, tainting the many, many battle medals and honor badges she had received from the modern German military and various other nations she had served alongside. She fought recklessly, ready to accept deadly hits as long as she could do the same to her adversary.

Nagato...before this, Tenryuu would've never seen Nagato as a fashionista, but there she was, neither in uniform nor a dress, but a dark colored bespoke suit. She looked excited yet calm, never once she tried to avoid her enemy's blows. Instead, she let the Abyssal's massive fists to strike her right in the face, laughed, and then hit back harder.

One last hit from Nagato drove the Abyssal a little too far back, giving it a chance to lower its sixteen-inch guns.

"No." Nagato calmly declared, before giving the Abyssal a swift high kick in the face, sending it to the floor.

However, the guns went off.

The ground shook violently as the ceiling shattered, breaking the mural painted upon it into million pieces and showering the people below with paint flakes and stone dust. Tenryuu felt her ears ringing once more.

"Keep close and don't let them fire! This building cannot take firepower of that magnitude!" shouted Admiral Goto.

"My apologies!" shouted Nagato back while smiling, sounding less apologetic and more cheerfully lunatic.

Tenryuu scanned the room, and even though it shamed her as a supposed protector of the people, she didn't really care about the humans cowering under the risk of death. Instead, she was looking for her charges.

"Where are my destroyers?"

"The Akatsuki class, right?" said Admiral Hackett. "Juneau said that she's taking them up top to see the city from above, alongside my...the American destroyers."

"Up top?"

"Penthouse level." said Admiral Goto, her face darkened as she realized the implication. "At the very top floor."

Tenryuu shivered as the feeling of dread started creeping up her spine.

"Can you hail them?" asked Tenryuu, trying to hide her worry.

"No, something's blocking our communication beyond the first floor." answered Ooyodo.

Tenryuu's heart dropped, but her will didn't.

"I'm going up top."

Admiral Goto immediately knew that the light cruiser wasn't exactly asking for a permission.

"If you're going, we don't exactly know what you are going to face. The elevators are most likely disabled, and it is possible that you'll have to fight your way through the entire fifty floors."

Tenryuu didn't answer, only looking at her admiral with her single intense eye.

The admiral sighed.

"Don't die."

"Roger that."

Tenryuu stood up and started dashing towards the center of the hall, having decided to contribute her part in the first battle before moving out. Before she was too far away, she managed to hear Ooyodo's urgent voice giving yet another report to Admiral Goto.

"Zuikaku's calling. She's bringing in a wounded."

"We took a casualty already? damn."

Tenryuu decided to ignore that for now. She needed to concentrate.

She dashed forward to the nearest battleship duel, where Bismarck was repeatedly slamming her head against the Abyssal armored face, driving it back. Approaching from behind, Tenryuu quickly gave the Abyssal a quick and unexpected stab right into the side of its waist, putting her weight and all of her momentum into the blade.

The Abyssal staggered, but Bismarck didn't give it the chance to scream. One well-placed punch broke its mighty jaw, making a wet sound that betrayed the Abyssal's organic nature behind its metal exterior.

Tenryuu retrieved her blade from the gut of the monster, nodding to the German battleship in the process. She didn't wait until Bismarck had returned her nod before dashing toward the door.

After Tenryuu made a dent in the battle equilibrium, it took no time until Admiral Goto's battleships finished the last of the outnumbered Abyssals. But when the last enemy in the hall fell, Tenryuu was already halfway through the emergency staircase to the second floor.

Suddenly, it was dark. The enemy must have cut the power or something. Tenryuu didn't panic. Even back then the night was the domain of the Japanese, even if not by choice.

Using her excellent mark one eyeball, Tenryuu had no problem spotting an Abyssal cruiser in a full rigging jumping down upon her. Tenryuu ducked, letting the abyssal flew over her.

Tenryuu didn't have enough time to identify the class of the belligerent cruiser except that it was wearing some sort of mask before her feral instinct kicked in, driving her forward and under the barrels of the Abyssal's guns. She raised her blade and was slightly surprised when the Abyssal caught her wrist, but the monster was merely delaying the inevitable. Tenryuu loosened her grip on her blade, letting it fall. Both Tenryuu and the Abyssal cruiser eyed the blade as it fell towards the ground, as if in slow motion. However, when the Abyssal was almost hypnotized by the gleam of the blade, Tenryuu was merely looking for the right moment.

When the blade had fallen far enough, to the height of her enemy's midsection, Tenryuu used her free hand to grab the blade from mid-air and drive it upward, under the cruiser's equivalent of a sternum and into her heart.

The Abyssal looked at Tenryuu. If it had not been wearing a mask, then Tenryuu would've been able to see fear in the cruiser's face. As it was, they only locked sight for a moment before the cruiser fell and died, tumbling like a ragdoll downstair.

Not even taking the time to celebrate her victory, Tenryuu continued upward. She quickly passed the empty second floor, but upon reaching the third floor, she was immediately greeted by the sight of mangled, dead humans, piling up on the frame of the emergency staircase's access door.

Tenryuu quickly realized that these were the hotel patrons, desperately trying to reach the exit before they were mercilessly slaughtered, probably by the very same cruiser Tenryuu had just killed.

Tenryuu was not sure if Abyssals had souls. But she hoped they did, if only so that she could send them to hell herself.

Saying a short prayer for the dead, Tenryuu continued her long journey. She was soon faced with yet another enemy. A heavy cruiser.

Unlike the previous light cruiser which was very aggressive, the heavy cruiser moved slowly and confidently, smiling as she descended the stairs toward Tenryuu. Why wouldn't it? it outweighed, outgunned, and out-armored the Japanese light cruiser in front of it, each by a large margin.

But Tenryuu stood firm, blade at the ready. Unbeknownst to her enemy, it was not facing a mere light cruiser that it could just swat away like a fly.

No, it was facing a mother, a heavenly dragon that would gladly shake the mortal realm to protect her children.

Tenryuu flourished her blade, looking at her next enemy in the eyes.

"You will fear me."


	47. Planning and Friendships

"One! Two! You're on top!" Hibiki screamed in Russian as she threw an enemy destroyer over the banister and to a hard fall on the floor below, clearing the path for the line of terrified civilians to ascend.

"Please follow me!" shouted Juneau from the top of the stairs, ready to lead the evacuees up to the penthouse level. They'd be trapped when they reached there, but down below wasn't exactly an option. Her sisters and the one American destroyer were barely able to hold the door.

"They're breaking through, nano desu!"

Hearing her sister's cry, Hibiki shouted to Juneau over the sound of the Abyssals' gnashing teeth.

"How is it up there!?"

"We're clear!" answered Juneau, an answer which Hibiki quickly relayed to her sisters.

The rear defenders promptly started retreating one by one, starting with Akatsuki, until the only thing holding the Abyssals back was the tiny hands of Ikazuchi. Hibiki passed The Sullivans and her sisters as she raced downstairs toward the door.

"Any sign of O'Bannon?!"

"Nothing!" answered Ikazuchi.

O'Bannon had gone to the restroom right before all hell broke loose, and they had not seen her ever since.

"Tch. We'll look for her corpse later! In the count of three, run!"

"One!" started Ikazuchi.

"Two!"

"Three!"

Hibiki and Ikazuchi ran upstairs, leaving the Abyssals to pour in through the door. They quickly reached the upper door where the rest of the destroyers had waited, an army of hungry mouths chasing them all the way.

"Sullivan! Go look for survivors!" ordered Hibiki as they closed the door just in time, kicking the frontmost Abyssal's hand away from the doorframe in the process. The American destroyer immediately bolted off without hesitation, looking for survivors to add to the ever-growing line following Juneau.

The Abyssals behind the door suddenly gave a strong push, pushing Hibiki and her sisters back temporarily before they quickly regained their footholds.

"We can't possibly hold them!" shouted the eldest Akatsuki.

"Watch me!" Hibiki taunted. "I lived through World War Two and a good part of the Cold War! I'm not dying while wearing a dress! That'd just be insulting! URA!"

 **-Meanwhile, dozens of floors below...-**

A single F3F biplane circled the dead carcass of an enemy aviation cruiser, having expended it's very light bomb load. Assured that its enemy was right and truly dead, it then changed course back toward its home carrier. Unfortunately for the fairy piloting it, the USS Enterprise was then without her rigging and deckless, meaning that it's impossible for the plane to be retrieved and refueled. She decided to land the plane on the floor nearest to Enterprise. Empty of ordnance and fuel, it's now completely useless.

Enterprise carefully bent down and retrieved the fairy, welcoming her essence back into her. She then checked the small ammo belt tied around her thigh like a garter. She still had nine shotgun shells, each containing a single squadron of F3F naval fighters, but without the ability to recover and refuel any of them once they had been launched Enterprise knew that they wouldn't last her long.

"Huh, so we're not the only one that is developing concealed weapons for our ships." remarked Ooyodo as she examined Enterprise's gun from afar.

"A modified M26 modular shotgun. It's not really that different from a regular one, allowing for easier logistic." commented Admiral Hackett. "I see that you've opted to build your own platform entirely from scratch." she added, gesturing at Zuikaku's recently fired crossbow.

"I really don't like sharing things with the army. It gives me less control." said Admiral Goto.

"Army? You mean the ground defense force."

"Of course."

Having loaded another shell into her shotgun, Enterprise moved to the edge of the hall where the admirals had gathered, including a few that were unfamiliar to her. Zuikaku did the same, and when their eyes accidentally met they both quickly looked away.

"Well, from all the mess Goto had ever gotten me into, this one is relatively tame." said a female Japanese admiral with a really short hair, short enough that Enterprise could see the skin of her head.

"How is this my fault?" barked Admiral Goto in a challenging tone. However, their heating conversation was cut short when a light cruiser dressed in all black interrupted.

"Sendai, you've done your recon?" said the admiral with the short hair.

"I did, Rei." said Sendai, smiling.

Rei...if Enterprise remembered it correctly, Her fleet was the one that took over Admiral Goto's duties when her own fleet partied to celebrate the safe arrival of Enterprise's escort.

"Could you please not address me so casually?"

"What? Are you going to punish me, Admiral Rei Rei?"

"No...but...whatever." said Admiral Rei in defeat.

Satisfied from winning her little argument against her superior, Sendai continued."Anyway, my report. I've coordinated with Admiral Goto's submarines, and we've all come to a singular conclusion."

"And that is?" prodded Admiral Goto.

"We're trapped. When some of us managed to slip pass the Abyssals' blockade we found out that all of the doors and windows had been sealed."

"Sealed?" asked Admiral Rei. "What do you mean 'sealed'?"

"Maybe I could explain it better, ma'am."

A very young woman suddenly broke away from the other civilians and approached the group of admirals. Her skin was pearly white, and she had her shining black hair cut short. She was wearing a black sleeveless form-fitting dress with a low cut, most likely not to emphasize her almost non-existent chest but to draw eyes to her glorious skin.

"My name is Liu Xifeng. I'm the owner of this unfortunate building." the woman said as she looked up at the mostly destroyed ceiling. "You know, that mural cost me about a year profit."

Far away, The battleship Nagato sneezed.

"Miss Liu, is it?" Admiral Goto called as she approached the woman. "At this point, we'd welcome any form of help. Please speak freely."

Liu Xifeng nodded. "Well, what your ships had encountered was most likely my missile defense system." she began. "This hotel was supposed to cater to the most important part of society, and with the situation as it was, I thought that having a nuclear-proof hotel would be good for advertisement."

"You have a nuclear-proof hotel right in the middle of the city?" said Admiral Hackett, smiling. "I'm really impressed. Some rich people would be content just by building their own doomsday vault."

The Chinese lady scratched her head. Her silk like hair reforming around her fingers like water. "I thought that I could use it as a refugee camp if the Abyssals ever step inland. The fact that it could be used against us was a terrible hindsight in my part. My apologies."

Liu Xifeng bowed, exposing her fragile neck.

"Okay, so how many do I need to kill and where?"

All eyes suddenly went to Enterprise, who had suddenly talked.

"Uh...excuse me?" asked Liu, confused.

"There's no problem that can't be solved with enough firepower. All I need is a direction. So give me one." Enterprise asked somewhat forcefully, letting a bit of her Grey Ghost persona leaking through.

"We don't have nearly enough firepower, though. I already expended half of my planes." said Zuikaku, counting her bolts.

"Well, you ain't me, are you?" said Enterprise smugly.

Admiral Goto slowly moved her gaze from Enterprise to the hotel owner.

"Is there a main control room to override the lockdown?'

"I've found one already. It was heavily guarded. there's no way we can get in." said Sendai.

"There's another way." Liu Xifeng remarked, drawing all attention back to her. "I have a personal bunker somewhere in the basement. I can override any of the building's systems from there."

"Where?" asked Enterprise, suddenly feeling pumped.

"It's very well hidden and also equipped with a multi-layered DNA lock. I'll need to go with you."

Admiral Goto nodded. "Then that's our next goal. We need to assemble task forces to guard the entrances, take care of the wounded, and infiltrate the objective. How many Kanmusu do we have?"

There were about five admirals in the group, including the three Enterprise already knew. Only one of them was male.

"I only brought Texas..." said Admiral Hackett.

"Mostly cruisers." said Rei.

"I brought five destroyers." said another female admiral Enterprise didn't recognize.

"I don't have any." said the only male admiral.

"Right, Mister Akiyama, you're in charge of a conventional fleet." confirmed Admiral Goto. "I'm sure we can make use of your boys."

As the admirals started talking among themselves, Enterprise felt a hand touching her shoulder. Expecting Zuikaku, she quickly put on her angry face, only to be greeted by the stern face of the Japanese carrier Kaga.

"May I talk with you?" said Kaga, in a tone more polite than Enterprise was used to ever coming out from the Japanese carrier.

"Sure."

Kaga started walking away, signaling for Enterprise to follow. Enterprise noticed that Zuikaku was watching her, but she decided to ignore it.

"Enterprise." Kage began as they reached a secluded spot in the hall. "I want to talk to you about our relationship."

"Oh? are you proposing? I'm sorry but I'm not exactly available right now."

"What?" said Kaga, turning slightly red. "No, I mean our relationships as comrades in arms."

"Oh? well, that's disappointing."Enterprise said teasingly, putting her hands on her hips.

Kaga pressed her fingers against her temple. "Please take this seriously. It took me great effort to even consider saying what I'm about to say."

Enterprise crossed her arms over her chest as if challenging Kaga. "Go on, then."

"What I'd like to say is...I'm sorry."

Enterprise raised an eyebrow, clearly taken aback by Kaga's words. "Excuse me?"

"It was no secret that I hated you." Kaga began to explain. "I was the pride of our navy, the strongest, yet you and your sisters defeated me in basically less than an hour."

"Not your finest moment, I take it?" Enterprise said with a smile, powerless to hide the hint of her own pride in her voice.

"It was not, and I had resented you for that." Kaga continued. "But something...someone made me realize that making an enemy out of you is currently not in the best interest of my people."

Enterprise tilted her head to the side. "So, your point is..?"

"My point is that I'm sorry, and I want to be your friend, at least for now." Kaga said as she offered her hand. "Would you accept me?"

Silence befell the two carriers until Enterprise suddenly started chuckling.

"Is it really that funny?" said Kaga, starting to sound offended.

"No, not that." denied Enterprise, recollecting her breath. "It's just that I had always thought that I'd gladly be your friend if it didn't seem like you're constantly plotting to kill me in my sleep."

Enterprise suddenly gave Kaga's hand a firm grip, making the Japanese carrier jolted in surprise.

"So my answer is yes, certainly."

Kaga was stunned for a moment, then her lips broke into a smile, a smile that Enterprise thought was much gentler and genuine than she could ever give herself.

"I appreciate it." said Kaga as she joined and put her hands in front of her in a very typical wifely manner. "By the way, can you do me a favor?"

"Anything for a friend." answered Enterprise with a grin.

"Please don't tell anyone that we ever have this conversation."


	48. The Chancellor and the Princess

**A/N: So...is it WarBis? Bispite? BisWar? WarMarck?**

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It was an absolute mess.

The proud german battleship Bismarck was standing right in the middle of the hall. Her muscles were still tightening from a battle that was already over, and what left of her clothes were a few grams heavier than they were when she put them on this evening, from absorbing so much blood both hers and that of her foes.

As her battle adrenaline wore off, Bismarck felt a tingling pain from her mouth. She cupped her jaw with one of her massive hands, and with a wet cracking sound, she fixed her dislocated jaw back into its proper place. No longer caring for decorum, she spat a mouthful of her own blood onto the floor.

Bismarck examined herself. She had been careless and was momentarily lost to her bloodlust. For an instant, she was not a proud, civilized German, but a member of the gothic tribes that had so long ago charged naked into a prepared Roman formation, falxblade in hands.

For most other battleships, the wounds she had suffered would be debilitating. But for Bismarck who had once occupied half of the largest navy in the world all by her lonesome, they were merely a nuisance. Bismarck was not even tired, and her fists were barely bruised.

As if sensing the eagerness of the German battleship, Nagato approached her from behind. Unlike Bismarck, Nagato's clothes were somehow barely ruffled. Standing side by side it was almost as if Nagato were mocking Bismarck, though it was obviously not the case.

"You know what's a better sight than a mountain of your dead enemies?" said Nagato in a deep, exalted voice, smiling as she put a hand on Bismarck's shoulder. "The warrior standing on top of them. You've fought well, friend."

"Thanks." Bismarck smiled. She then quickly turned her gaze upon Nagato's pristine clothes. "I still have so much to learn, it appears."

"You're still young." Nagato nodded. "Unlike our steel selves, we are no longer obstructed by the arbitrary limits of engineering. Work hard, gain experience, and get stronger."

"I will." said Bismarck with a neutral face, yet her fist was clenching in determination.

Nagato nodded, smiling gladly with her hands on her hips as if she were a proud mother.

"Now that we have a break in battle, I suggest that you look into you bondmate."

"Bondmate?" Bismarck tilted her head, confused.

Nagato returned Bismarck's confused expression. "The two of you have done the deed, have you not?"

Bismarck felt her blood rushing out of her wounds as her brain finally managed to comprehend the meaning of Nagato's words.

"N-no!" said Bismarck, louder than might've been necessary. "Not yet..."

"I see." said Nagato, putting a finger on her chin. "Take your time, friend. Even the most fleet-footed of tigers waits for its prey."

Prey...rabbit...and now Bismarck found herself imagining Warspite in a bunny outfit. Great.

"I should go to our admiral and see if she has any plan. She had never disappointed me so far."

Nagato put her hands in her pockets and started walking towards the edge of the hall, effortlessly leaping over the Abyssal that Bismarck had just recently killed.

Bismarck's lust for battle suddenly went away. She suddenly felt really tired and wished only to rest. Almost automatically her body brought her to the nearest wall where she could lean her back against. It's just so happened that said wall was right next to Warspite.

Warspite was looking dejectedly at the floor when she noticed the heavily damaged Bismarck limping towards her direction.

Bismarck took a glance at Warspite, realized she was fine, and then basically crashed onto the wall.

"H-hey!"

Bismarck tried to support herself on the wall, but her legs wobbled and she fell to the side, right into Warspite's embrace.

"Are you alright!?" asked Warspite, worry in her voice.

"What kind of stupid question is that?" whispered Bismarck snidely.

Warspite wouldn't be able to support Bismarck for long. Weight difference aside, Bismarck knew that Warspite was hiding a leg-bracer under her long skirt. With a huff of her breath, Bismarck returned to stand on her own feet.

"Sorry for your dress." said Bismarck as she noticed that her blood had stained Warspite's white dress.

Before Warspite could give a reply, an old woman in a red dress walked away from the other civilians, approaching Bismarck and Warspite. "Do you need help? I'm a doctor, and..."

"It's alright, I can self-heal." answered Bismarck before the woman could finish, using a layman term for performing damage control.

The lady seemed conflicted for a moment before she finally decided to turn around and walk away, saying something along the line of 'Shipgirls are awesome'.

"You sure you have enough materials for a temporary repair?" said Warspite as she took a step back, giving Bismarck a room to breathe.

"Enough to stop the bleeding, at least." Bismarck answered, touching a now drying wound.

For a moment Warspite looked solemnly at the bloodied Bismarck. She sighed, and then followed Bismarck's example of leaning herself against the wall.

Noticing Warspite's disheartened look, Bismarck decided to speak.

"What is it?"

Warspite kept her silence.

"Keeping it a secret from me, huh? Well, guess it's only natural."

She's still a German, after all.

However, Warspite's expression quickly changed after she heard Bismarck's words.

"it's not like that!" said Warspite, panicking. "It's just that...I'm feeling so useless outside of my rigging..."

Bismarck noticed Warspite swinging her stiffened leg under her skirt.

"Of all the things that could carry over from back then, it has to be my rudder."

Warspite's gaze fell onto the floor, her mouth curled into a sad smile.

Bismarck smiled. "Soon you'll be back on the waves and then you can make up for this night. This is an isolated incident. You're never meant to fight on land." she said, trying to lift up the spirit of the old battleship.

"Neither are you. yet..." Warspite touched a trace of Bismarck's blood on her clothing. "...yet you fought anyway, and there I was, a useless cripple."

Bismarck was taken aback by Warspite's meekness. Her weakened leg had never disturbed Warspite so much before, or at least not so much that anyone would notice. Even if the ships sailing with her sometimes had to keep their distance because of Warspite's somewhat unpredictable steering engine, she had always kept her dignity, always prideful as she unfailingly completed her objectives.

Bismarck was confused, not exactly sure what had brought Warspite's sudden change in personality. That's it until Warspite decided to spell it out for her.

"I hate seeing you hurt, you know."

Bismarck's face flushed a little.

"You said that as if you loved me." Bismarck said jokingly.

"I do." said Warspite without hesitation.

The flush on Bismarck's face turned into a straight up blush.

"I've said it before, remember?"

Bismarck's mind back to a night a week ago. Now thinking back to it, Warspite must've chosen that specific time to call her. They were on the beach, under the full moon, and...

"Of course I remember. It's just that I didn't expect you to be so straightforward with it."

"I've said it once already. There's no reason that I can't say it a thousand times more."

The two battleships, separated by a generation, stood silent for a moment with their faces reddened, unable to look at each other's face.

"I watched you fight." Warspite finally began. "It's almost as if you didn't care if you died.

Bismarck looked down at her blood-soaked torso.

"I had worse." said Bismarck thoughtlessly.

"I know, but I still want you to be careful." Warspite reached to the far side of Bismarck's face, pulling her cheek so that she faced her directly. "Sheesh, I feel like your mother sometimes."

Bismarck smiled sweetly. "It'd be nice if I had a mother like you."

Warspite smiled back. However, her smile was mischievous. Gently, she grabbed Bismarck's right hand, the one that's most bruised, and gave it a soft kiss.

"Pain~pain~go away~~" Warspite sang in a motherly tone, laughing. "Ehehe~just kidding..."

With a seemingly renewed vigor, Warspite launched herself off the wall and started limping away.

"You know what? I think I'll go and see if I could help with the evacuation process."

Warspite did not say goodbye as she moved away from Bismarck. Though it's not like Bismarck would've been able to reply or even care at all since her heart was basically already in orbit. Bismarck just watched silently as Warspite disappeared among the crowd, her mind empty except for the very clear picture of Warspite's backside.

So fleeting was Bismarck's mind that she didn't realize Iowa approaching from her side, her torso covered by a large white sheet.

"Older women are great, aren't they?"


	49. An IKon

**A/N: this chapter happens around the same time as the previous chapter, in parallel.**

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There was exactly one table in that entire room that had not been flipped over or destroyed. Somehow, said entire table had survived a bunch of high caliber naval cannons going off at a very close distance. It was almost untouched, even the lemonades on top of it still looked okay to drink.

The Japanese battleship Kongou took a glass of iced lemonade for herself, and then she grabbed the edge of the white tablecloth and without disturbing the glasses or jars or any of the decorations on top of the table, she pulled and freed the tablecloth from under them as a magician would.

"Goddamn, bollocking twatmunchers." Kongou cursed the abyss for ruining her night as she stepped over the corpses of her foes in her way towards the US battleship Iowa, who was currently standing in the most secluded corner of the hall. Iowa was a free woman, very comfortable in her own skin, but Kongou could see that not even she would be comfortable wearing only a bra at a social event attended by the highest of society. She stood there, bending forward slightly in an attempt to reduce her massive profile. One hand was covering her chest in a subtle manner, trying to keep her dignity while she continuously gave nervous, if polite, waves and smiles towards the gentlemen that were inevitably trying to steal glances at her almost bare chest, courtesy of Abyssal claws.

Iowa noticed Kongou approaching, and Kongou could see Iowa's expression changing as she tried to cover herself more, fretting, as if she were more embarrassed from being seen by Kongou than being seen by the rest of the guests in the hall.

Without a word and only using one hand, Kongou flung the large tablecloth over Iowa's shoulders, barely covering the top part of the very tall woman. She then used five of her nimble fingers to tie the corner of the cloth together, creating some sort of a makeshift cloak.

"Thanks." The American battleship said subduedly.

Kongou tried to give a reassuring smile. "It seems like we're not going to have our dance after all, huh?"

Iowa looked down, saddened. Kongou immediately regretted her choice of a conversation starter.

"D...don't worry! we'll have another chance! I'm sure of it!"

For some reason, Iowa looked even more disheartened after hearing Kongou's words, confusing the Japanese battleship.

"What is it?" Kongou finally asked, abandoning subtlety as she moved closer towards Iowa.

Iowa looked up, trying to return Kongou's smile, but her lips were quivering.

"it's...It's my dress." Iowa said with a trembling voice. "I'm not sure if I could afford to save up for another one...even if I could, the boutique I ordered it from got closed last month from Abyssal bombing..."

"Ah." Realization struck inside Kongou's mind.

Iowa was very fashion conscious. She might not look like it at first glance since she generally always wore the same kind of military issued clothing all week, but that's only because Iowa, just like Yamato or any other larger ships, needed to get their clothes specifically tailored for them due to their almost inhuman size. Kanmusu were paid well, but not exactly enough to afford an entire wardrobe of giant-sized bespoke dresses.

That's why Iowa tended to save up a large portion of her earnings, and on the rare occasions when she decided to splurge, she always went big. Indeed, the thing that had pushed Kongou over the edge and finally confessed her love for the American battleship was the exquisite kimono she wore in the last year's new year festival. Iowa had looked dazzling, stunning, a far cry from the battle weary woman in front of Kongou that night.

"I saved this dress for a moment like this." Iowa continued. "And now it's ruined, and I didn't even get to dance in it."

A dress...well, at least now kongou knew what to give on Iowa's birthday.

Kongou kept her cool head. She tapped the much larger battleship on the shoulder and smiled.

"Hey, don't be so depressed, alright? I'll get you something nice when we get back."

Hearing Kongou's attempt at reassurance, Iowa smiled half-heartedly.

"You think we'll survive this? We're apparently surrounded, and..."

"Of course we will." Kongou cut off, not even willing to think of any of them dying. "I'll make sure of it."

Kongou knew that Iowa was strong, but she also knew that Iowa was not used to being on the losing side, of facing a seemingly endless stream of enemies, of being pushed back, cornered and with no hope of escape. Even if in some perspectives Iowa was actually older than her, and have gone through more wars than her, Kongou realized that she still needed to act as the more mature of the two.

"Come on, bend down." Kongou requested, signaling with her fingers.

Clutching the tablecloth close to her chest, Iowa bent herself down almost a full ninety degree until her head was level with the top of Kongou's head. She was immediately welcomed by a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Everything's going to be alright, alright?" Kongou whispered gently, cupping Iowa's face with one hand. "Whatever happens, I'll always be with you."

Iowa froze. For a moment she looked at Kongou as if she was an alien from outer space, but her expression quickly softened.

"Thanks. I needed that."

Kongou tilted her head in a feigned confusion. "Needed what?"

Iowa chuckled. "Well...nothing."

Kongou shrugged, taking a sip from her glass. "Well, if you're going to stop moping already, I'm going to help secure the doors, if that's okay with you."

"Sure." Iowa answered immediately.

Licking a trace of lemonade from her lips, Kongou turned around and started walking away.

...and as her eyes were momentarily locked to Kongou's rear end, The battleship Iowa was relieved that she did not have a tendency to accidentally say her mind out loud.

 _'God, I'm so glad I fucked her.'_


	50. The Master and the Pupil

As she watched Enterprise moving out of the hall together with Kaga and Sendai to escort the hotel owner, Zuikaku had the look of someone who had just crashed a Lamborghini into a telephone phone, destroying something precious and losing something that she had worked so hard to get.

Meanwhile, some distance away, the destroyer Hatsuzuki sighed at the misery of the carrier she had considered as a close friend. Looking for something else to focus on, she checked her gun for one last time. it was not her usual one hundred millimeter, but merely a measly nine-millimeter her admiral had given to her. It'd do next to nothing against the kind of foes she'd be facing, but it's better than nothing.

"you're going?" a voice came from her side.

Hatsuzuki turned, facing the carrier Katsuragi.

"Yeah, I'll be coordinating with the submarines to comb for survivors." said Hatsuzuki as she holstered her gun back under her skirt. Fortunately, she had opted for a dress that included a short skirt and leggings, allowing her a somewhat adequate mobility.

"Sorry that I can't help." Katsuragi apologized, holding a hand on her chest, on top of her weakened heart.

"It's alright, just keep the people safe, okay?" Hatsuzuki tried to cheer the carrier, but Katsuragi seemed to be deaf to her voice as she looked at an older carrier in the distance.

"Is Zuikaku-senpai going with you?" Katsuragi asked, her eyes unmoving from her beloved senior.

"Yes, her air reconnaissance would be useful. Even the first floor is way too big for us alone." Hatsuzuki answered in her usual, professional tone.

Katsuragi fidgeted. For one second she took one step towards Zuikaku, but then she took a bigger step backward and started playing with her fingers, looking down at her feet.

"Do you want to talk to her?" asked Hatsuzuki, as perceptive as ever.

"I..."

Hatsuzuki gave an understanding smile, patting Katsuragi by the shoulder.

"If it all ends up going to hell tonight, what would be your biggest regret as you lay dying?"

Katsuragi looked at Hatsuzuki. For a moment, the young carrier was as meek as ever, but then Hatsuzuki felt her muscle tightening under her hand.

Katsuragi nodded to nobody in particular. "Wish me luck." she said as she began walking towards her senior, whose eyes were still locked at the door where the American carrier had long since passed through.

Hatsuzuki smiled again after Katsuragi had reached her beloved senior and started dragging her away to a more secluded corner of the hall, but this time her smile was different. Anyone who looked at the girl right now would quickly realize that she was in a state of melancholy. Her eyes looked at the back of Katsuragi and Zuikaku, walking hand-in-hand, with an expression that clearly showed a balanced mixture of envy and admiration.

"Brave girl." whispered Hatsuzuki as she subtly wiped her eyes which had begun to moisten, knowing that nobody would be able to say the same about her. "Goddammit."

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"I did what...?" the carrier Zuikaku asked in disbelief.

"Do you wish me to repeat, senpai?"

Zuikaku walked herself to the nearest wall, looking defeated. "No, it's alright. Once is more than enough." In fact, her heart could barely take it.

Zuikaku tried to calm herself, trying to control her breath to little effect. Meanwhile, Katsuragi merely waited patiently as her honored senior tried her hardest to not hyperventilate to death.

When Zuikaku finally managed to make sure that she wasn't going to die from shock, she raised her face and gave a pleading look to her junior.

"I messed up, didn't I?" Zuikaku said, her eyes empty. She then buried her fingers into her face as if trying to rip it away from her skull. "You must hate me right now, huh?"

Katsuragi's response was quick, swift, and so without a doubt that it almost shocked Zuikaku the second time.

"No." Katsuragi answered. Her voice was firm, almost shouting. "To be honest, at this point I'm not sure it's physically possible for me to hate you, senpai."

Zuikaku looked at her precious junior with eyes befitting of a father who had just received a gift from his only daughter.

"Thank you." said Zuikaku, her voice still weak. "So many things have gone wrong in such short amount of time, I'm glad that I at least still have one good thing by my side."

Katsuragi smiled, taking a step closer to Zuikaku.

"Senpai...just for tonight, may I use your name?"

Zuikaku looked confused, perplexed by Katsuragi's question.

"You know I already told you to call me by name a long time ago." Zuikaku responded.

"I do. It's just that I've respected you too much to refer to you as an equal. But tonight, in this midst of battle, let me talk not as you Kouhai, but as a woman."

Now Zuikaku felt really confused. Katsuragi had always been polite to her, yet the tone she used that night was not the polite voice of a junior speaking to her senior, but the voice of a courter.

"Uh...Katsuragi?" Zuikaku called up, hoping to get a clarification of intent from the younger carrier. Katsuragi almost seemed to ignore Zuikaku's voice as she marched closer and closer to her.

"Zuikaku." Katsuragi called the name of her beloved senior, for the first time since she gained a voice, without any honorific. "For a long time I have admired you. Ever since those days when I was moored in Kure, empty except for my anti-aircraft battery."

Katsuragi took another step, her face difficult to read.

"Back then, I only saw you for ten days as you prepared for your next and final sortie, yet even so my sailors sang your name. You were a veteran, an old warrior admired by all. You held the hope a nation on your shoulders and there I was, practically useless."

As Katsuragi exclaimed her perceived uselessness, for a moment Zuikaku's confusion went away and her confidence surged back.

"Katsuragi, I've said it before, and I will say it again. You're not useless, not now or ever." Zuikaku said with an absolute voice, as if she were merely rechanting an indisputable fact.

Katsuragi gave a wide smile. "And there it is, the reason I love you."

For a moment the world froze as Katsuragi's voice echoed inside of Zuikaku's head, repeating her last word over and over.

"L...Love?" Zuikaku parroted in disbelief, half expecting some pranksters with a camera to jump out from the corner of her eyes.

"Yes." Katsuragi declared with all of the seriousness that she could muster. "Ever since I was...was called back into service, you've placed me under your wing. I was feeling useless. At first, I saw our modern country as a weakened state, where the people was meek and subservient, a state that my weakness had helped brought to existence. I did not have a faith in myself, or in Japan, yet you did."

Zuikaku was silent, her entire body petrified.

"From day one you've been behind me, keeping me on my feet. Even as I bumbled my way through my training you were there, screaming to me that my every mistake was merely yet another step towards perfection, towards the safety of our people. weeks passed, and your comforting words began to echo in my head, so loud until all that I could dream of in my sleep was you, Zuikaku."

"W,,,what...?" Zuikaku uttered after she finally managed to open her mouth.

Katsuragi's smile waned into a more subdued simper as she decided to abandon subtlety and moved her face closer to the frozen Zuikaku.

"I love you, Zuikaku."

Katsuragi brought her face closer and closer, leaning so much that she had to support herself on the wall behind Zuikaku. Her expression was longing, bearing thirst and hunger that scared Zuikaku into submission as she moved in for a kiss.

But their lips never touched.

At first, Zuikaku could see the thirst on Katsuragi's face waning, her hunger suddenly sated. Soon, her longing expression quickly turned into that of regret and disappointment as she drew her face away from the very stunned Zuikaku.

"I cannot have you." Katsuragi said, more to herself than to anyone. "But I still want you to know. I apologize if I put too much pressure on you. Please realize that I will support whoever you choose to be by your side, senpai."

Katsuragi stepped back. Zuikaku was just about to gather enough of her scattered thought to regain the control of her jaws when Katsuragi began to speak again.

"I will move on. But know that even if I found someone, you will always be my first love, senpai." Katsuragi said as she bowed. "Goodbye."

Katsuragi turned. For a moment it seemed that Zuikaku would call her back, but she couldn't muster the courage she needed until Katsuragi was simply too far away.

Zuikaku finally sighed, suddenly feeling really tired. Once again in her life she did not have any idea of what to do, of which direction she should take. For a moment she wished that Albacore had not lay dying on the floor with only Ooyodo as her caretaker. Her advice might only ever end in disasters, but they're still miles better than what Zuikaku had right at that moment, which was nothing. In a state of pure depression, Zuikaku buried her face in her hands.

"I need a friggin drink."


	51. The Siege

**A/N: So I have a few weeks before I need to disappear until the start of August at best, or disappear permanently at worst. Thus, I'm going to hurry this fic a little bit. I'm going to try to go for a daily update until I at least could provide this story with some sort of (hopefully) temporary ending. Emphasis on 'try', mind.**

 **Wish me luck.**

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The light cruiser Sendai was not a stranger to a bout of violence in pitch darkness, but even then, as she led the charge amidst the red glow of the emergency lights lining the basement corridors, she felt uneasy.

It was quiet. The kind of quiet Sendai was so familiar with. the kind of quiet that loomed over a fleet right before one of her ships exploded in a surprise attack from an enemy submarine.

"This is bad." Sendai whispered her concern. "Miss Enterprise, have your planes spotted anything?"

"Nothing in the radius of five hundred meters. this is...unsettling" answered Enterprise. "There were so many of them up top. This is most likely an ambush."

"Speaking of which, how did so many of them get inside unnoticed?" asked Kaga, acting as the rear guard with her blade in hand. Tenryuu's gift for Kaga's launch anniversary last year had proven to be useful, allowing Kaga to add two destroyers and one cruiser to her kill count in the space of a single night.

"Indeed, they're not exactly trying to hide nor disguise themselves." added Enterprise.

The hotel owner, looking as frail as ever in the middle of warriors, answered.

"We received some large containers last week that were not listed on the monthly shipping manifest."

"And then what? you just...keep them?" asked Enterprise again.

"There were government seals on them. It caused a bit of confusion in the administration. We didn't dare to open them, and we couldn't even if we wanted to since they were made of something extremely strong, my best guess was some sort of advanced titanium alloy. the in-depth scanner showed nothing dangerous inside, so we decided to wait until we could call my contacts in the government."

"Well, that was stupid." Enterprise called out.

"Hindsight is always twenty-twenty. what matters now is to fix this mess." said Kaga. "We shall decide whether or not the lady deserves a judgment later, after we have made sure that we're not going to die tonight."

The hotel owner only gave a defeated sigh as a response.

"The control room should be close. turn right." The hotel owner instructed to Sendai, which the cruiser immediately followed.

"How much control you can actually get from this control room?" asked Enterprise. "If possible I would rather these things not running amok in the city itself. Maybe we could just open one gate? funnel them into a killing zone?"

"It's officially called the master room." answered the owner. "It has a lot of redundant connections to practically every system in the building. Even if the main power is out, I should still be able to control the security system, open the gate, and maybe even activate the automatic gun turrets. That way we might be able to isolate these..Abyssal inside the building."

"Automatic gun turrets?" asked Enterprise with a doubting voice. The hotel owner suddenly looked guilty.

"It's...not exactly legal, and only placed around the personal suites I've reserved for myself and my family..."

"Typical Chinese." whispered Kaga from behind.

"How about communication?" continued Enterprise, ignoring Kaga's somewhat offensive remark. "We haven't been able to contact the outside world so far. Will you be able to help with that?"

"This building does not have any jamming technology equipped, but it does have an advanced communication system that could be repurposed, and..." The owner suddenly stopped.

"What is it?" Enterprise asked.

"It...it's just that..." the owner began, her voice staggering. "It just that for so long I had considered the Abyssal simply as violent, if maybe supernatural beasts. I never thought of them to be able to concoct this kind of subterfuge, trapping our best defenders in one place and then just...strike."

Kaga was the first to response to this revelation. "It's always too easy to underestimate your enemies."

The tense atmosphere surrounding the group was suddenly added by Sendai's urgent voice.

"Is that's it there?" said Sendai, pointing at a bust of an old man placed on a stone pedestal.

"It is. I'm surprised you're able to spot it."

"Heh, the placement is just too obvious." said Sendai proudly. "Trying to spot a submarine's periscope is much harder."

"Is that Admiral Yi Sun-sin?" asked Kaga, recognizing the figure of the bust.

"He is. The symbol of dedication to one's country, and not to the inept and corrupt government, and also a lesson on how debilitating it is to have little political skill in the military." said the owner as she placed herself in front of the pedestal. She gave the bust a bow as in prayer, and then pulled the top of its head, revealing a big red button.

She gently pushed the button, and with the soft hum of hydraulics, the wall in front of the group split open.

Sendai was the first to comment on the spectacle in front of them.

"Fancy."

"A good part of my budget for the hotel got eaten up by the control panel alone."

Enterprise already had time to adjust to how much human technology had advanced since her decommissioning, but still, the room in front of her awed her. Closest to the gate was what looked like someone had taken the cockpits of two 747s and slammed them together, blinking and humming. Following this giant control panel were lines upon lines of grayish boxes, probably some sort of server farm.

Unlike the corridor, the room was bathed in bright white light. it's almost as if the room was a stage, consciously trying to show off how awesome itself was.

The hotel owner did not waste any time. She immediately approached the panel, and her fingers began dancing on it like her life was at stake. To be fair, it probably did.

"They actually managed to subvert my satellites...damn..."

None of the Second World War soldiers actually knew what the hotel owner was talking about, but they all had gone through enough battles to recognize that things were not going well.

"How did they...I made these codes myself dammit...AHA!" the owner finally shouted.

"Good news?" asked Sendai.

"I managed to get our communication back online, and-"

Suddenly, the screen in front of the Chinese lady flickered, before completely turning off. Then the light went off, throwing the previously bright sanctuary into a pitch darkness.

"Not good news?" Sendai whispered.

"They got us." declared the hotel owner.

Enterprise suddenly found herself losing contact with all of her scout planes. Behind her, a sound could be heard, a sound that at this point she had already known too well, the sound of dozens of gnashing teeth and their hunger for prey.

Quickly, Sendai took a step outside, she looked to her right and left, and shouted.

"Yup! We're dead alright!" she declared.

"Inside!" the owner shouted. "My personal bunker is deeper inside the room! we can hold out there!"

And so, led by the hotel owner, Sendai, Enterprise, and Kaga ran past the server farm and towards what looked like a bank vault. The owner immediately put her hand on some sort of a hand scanner, and the internal mechanism of the vault started working. Grinding gears could be heard, but the door moved too slowly. Meanwhile, the forwardmost of the enemy group had already entered the room.

"We must hold them!" Sendai called, charging the enemy as the two carriers followed behind her.

Although Sendai did not have her rigging, there's still something she could do. She still had her boilers inside her. With her boilers fired at maximum capacity, she quickly exhaled from her mouth, covering the enemy formation in thick black smoke.

The cruiser and the carriers moved in for a counter-charge, temporarily driving the blinded Abyssal back. but their bravery and valor could only buy so much time.

"It's open!" the owner shouted. The vault door only opened a little bit, but fortunately, the Abyssal pursuing them were of the large type. The four quickly slipped in inside the bunker, and as the owner was closing the door from the other side they could hear the sound of crushing metals, as the Abyssal desperately tried to reach inside, only to be crushed by the door mechanism.

As the door clicked shut, the four survivors inside finally could find some time to breathe.

The room they've found themselves in was luxurious, with big four-poster bed and colorful carpet. The little chandelier on the ceiling was dark but was still definitely expensive. None of these would help them survive in any way.

"Now what?" asked Sendai to anyone who might have an answer.

The hotel owner approached the wall closest to the vault door and pulled out a hidden panel, after a minute, she turned back to the group.

"Somehow they're closing up the communication line again, but I think I will be able to hold them out of the system for at least three minutes."

Enterprise looked around at her fellow shipgirls, and found them looking back at her.

"Well, alright then."

Slowly, Enterprise approached the panel.

"Just press the green button." the owner instructed.

Enterprise did so, and soon she was connected to one of the many emergency frequencies the JMSDF had assigned to her.

Enterprise tried to call a distress signal, but whether due to stress or fatigue she could not quite remember the words to say. So, she decided to begin with one simple sentence as her mind collected itself, some simple words...

"Help us..."


	52. The Last Stretch

**A/N: Dear readers, thank you for your supports. You all have been good friends.**

 **I've made a lot of mistakes as I write this story, and no doubt I will make some more, like Dan** **Browning my facts or simply giving the wrong dialog markers alongside the usual grammar incompetence. Please feel free to point out those mistakes!**

 **Cheers!**

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It's fascinating how naval doctrine could change drastically when your ships had arms and legs. Back in World War Two, carriers dominated the battlefield, but now, Zuikaku couldn't count how many times she had thought that they should've built more battleships.

This moment, for example.

"DAMNIT DAMN IT DAMN IT DAMN IT!"

Zuikaku ran upstairs through the darkness at full speed, spouting profanities all the way. In her arms she held the heavily bleeding Hatsuzuki, and right on her tail was a Re-class aviation battleship, its speed defying the size of her heavily armed tail and small legs.

 _ **"WAIT FOR ME! I WANT TO PLAY!"**_

The fact that the clearly inhuman voice used a very childish tone just made it scarier.

For a moment Zuikaku regretted that she had chosen the emergency stairs as an escape route when they got separated from the rest of the search fleet, but right at the moment there's no time for regret, only for running.

Kanmusu or not, Zuikaku could not keep her pace for long. Her breathing was already getting heavy, and they're only getting further and further away from the rest of the force back on the ground floor. They needed a place to hide.

"Just leave me..." whispered Hatsuzuki weakly, straight into Zuikaku's bosom.

Zuikaku responded by bashing the door into the third floor with her shoulder, and continued running.

"...I supposed to protect you..."

"SHUT UP!" Zuikaku shouted harshly as she sent the few planes she had left to scout for enemies and secure a route into a good hiding spot. She quickly found and abandoned suite somewhere near the far corner.

Avoiding additional enemies and jumping over the corpses humans that she regretfully could not save, Zuikaku found and entered the suite her planes had found, barely managed to lose the enemy battleship on the way. Even as Zuikaku carefully dropped Hatsuzuki on the luxurious bed and began to seal the door using wardrobe and other heavy things she could find, she could still hear the voice of the Re-class calling her out to play.

Zuikaku took a deep breath. This was the kind of time when a calm mind would prevail. Unfortunately, it was very hard for Zuikaku to calm down right at the moment. They might be safe for now, but they're also trapped.

Deciding that she needed to focus on one thing at a time to remain sane, Zuikaku chose to tend to her wounded escort first. she approached Hatsuzuki, her repair crew ready. Hatsuzuki was looking at the ceiling, her eyes unfocused. There was a large gash running from the base of her shoulder through the middle of her stomach, exposing her chest to the open air. The destroyer was breathing heavily, and with each expansion of her lungs her wound widened, seeping even more blood into what remained of her dress.

Carefully, Zuikaku placed her hand on Hatsuzuki bare and bleeding chest. Her fairies quickly poured out from her sleeve, checking the wound. One of the fairies turned back to Zuikaku, its face grim.

"Not enough material?" asked Zuikaku. The fairy nodded sadly.

"Use me, then."

The rest of the fairies suddenly looked at Zuikaku, unsure.

"Do it."

After a minute of deliberation, the lead fairy nodded, summoning half of the fairies to return back inside Zuikaku. The rest started taking out their tool and slip inside of Hatsuzuki's wound.

Zuikaku felt a stinging pain as her own fairies cut her inside apart. She could see a small slice of her flesh disappeared from her right hand, creating a bleeding gash that continued to grow upwards towards her shoulder. But as Zuikaku's wound grew bigger, Hatsuzuki's wound grew smaller, and it was exactly the result Zuikaku wished for.

When Hatsuzuki's largest wound finally stopped bleeding, Zuikaku gave a sigh of relief. She carefully removed her officer jacket with her one functional arm and draped it over the destroyer, giving her some modesty. A silly sentiment in the face of death, but Zuikaku wanted to do it anyway.

There was now a large wound running across Zuikaku's right arm, and without enough material for a repair, it was now useless. She used her left hand to rip apart the sleeve of her shirt, clumsily trying to make a makeshift tourniquet. Nowhere near enough to stop her bleeding, but it was something, at least.

With one arm disabled, Zuikaku had no choice but to operate her crossbow with her teeth, and as she used her tongue to put a bolt inside the string, Zuikaku thought that she could've been a great kisser. The strange things that crossed your mind when you're at death's door...

Suddenly, Zuikaku's radio perked up.

 _'help us...'_

"Enterprise?" Zuikaku almost shouted, but before Enterprise could answer another voice chimed in.

 _'We've got a contact!'_

"Mutsu?" Zuikaku asked, confused. Mutsu was not invited to the party.

 _'Zuikaku? I'm calling from outside._ " Mutsu answered.

"Huh? Wait, why are you here?" Zuikaku asked again, realizing too late that it was a stupid question.

 _'One of the biggest building in the city suddenly went into a lockdown, you'd bet that'd pick some attention. We have the building surrounded, but we can't get in. what happened?"_

Zuikaku looked to the window and realized that it was still blocked by a thick steel plate, part of the building's defense system.

' _The building is full of Abyssal troops._ ' Enterprise gave an honest answer.

 _'What!?'_ Mutsu shouted.

A third voice suddenly joined.

 _'This is Admiral Goto, I can confirm that.'_

Zuikaku could hear a ruckus as people on Mutsu's end discussed what was a recent revelation to them.

 _'Alright, alright.'_ called Mutsu again, obviously trying to calm herself. _'any plan, admiral?'_

 _'well...'_

' _we have one, if I may._ ' cut Enterprise. ' _We could only hold the communication for another minute, but the hotel owner said that she might be able to open the exit gate at the uppermost floor as long as she had access to the console here.'_

Admiral Goto took no time to deliberate.

 _'Mutsu, prepare a helicopter or two, big ones.'_

' _Aye-aye, admiral!_ ' Mutsu answered dutifully, but Zuikaku caught something wrong in Enterprise's plan.

"Wait, what do you mean 'as long as she had access to the console'?"

' _We'll need to stay down here._ ' Enterprise answered with her usual unwavering professional tone. ' _We will not be able to hold out for long, but we can at least give you thirty minutes. Move fast._ "

"W-wait a minute here-!"

" _Goodbye, Crane._ "

With a loud click and buzz, all radio communication ceased.

Zuikaku froze. the tone of Enterprise's last words playing over and over in her ears. It was cheerful, artificially so, almost as if Enterprise didn't want Zuikaku to hear her crying.

Zuikaku wanted to run, run downstairs to at least meet Enterprise for the last time, to give her life so that she might escape, but the view of the wounded, unconscious destroyer in front of her stilled her feet.

With so many strong, conflicting interests in her heart, Zuikaku felt her knees weakening, added to that the blood loss from her wounds, she could not stay upright. She took her seat on the bed beside the limp Hatsuzuki, her face down, tired.

"Goddamit."

They had a plan. Soon the people would be able to escape. but why was she feeling so defeated?

"Goddamit."

Suddenly strength came back to her as her sadness turned into anger. Zuikaku stood up, and saw the wall nearest to her.

 **CRACK!**

Zuikaku bashed her head as hard as possible against the wall, again...

"GOD-!"

...and again.

"-DAMN-!"

and again.

"-IT ALL!"

When her rage ceased, Zuikaku did not find comfort, only a bleeding head and a broken brick wall in front of her.

"Fuck."

Zuikaku took her seat again beside Hatsuzuki, her mind's now empty. She looked at the floor, sitting still like a statue. She knew that they'd soon be found by the enemy if she only waited in that isolated room, but no matter how hard she tried she could not find the strength to get back on her feet.

...and then she felt a tiny hand touching hers.

"Zuikaku-san?"

That tiny weak voice woke up Zuikaku from her stupor.

"Ah...you're awake?" said Zuikaku. Suddenly realizing that she's currently not only responsible for her own life, but that of other, she immediately stood up again. "I'm sorry, but we're going to need to move out soon. can you walk?"

Hatsuzuki answered by pulling Zuikaku's hand with a strength that Zuikaku would've never expected from a wounded destroyer. Zuikaku lost her balance, and as she fell, her face got uncomfortably close to Hatsuzuki's. Then, Zuikaku felt something, something soft.

It took an entire long second for Zuikaku to realize that Hatsuzuki had kissed her.

"Now, I am content." whispered Hatsuzuki. "Go to her."

"H..huh?" uttered Zuikaku. with her mind recently scrambled, that was the only sound her mouth could make.

"I'd be fine. You want to meet her, are you not?" Hatsuzuki prodded, smiling. Her hand was trying to push Zuikaku away, trying to get her to move.

"I can't possibly..."

"Just go, alright? before I changed my mind."

Indeed, Zuikaku wanted to go. her heart was screaming for Zuikaku to simply agree and leave, to be by her beloved, but her honor stood fast.

"No." Zuikaku said with conviction.

"Huh?" Hatsuyuki looked confused.

"I've said it before, right?" Zuikaku grabbed the destroyer's tiny hand tightly. "I will always be by your side."

Hatsuzuki's mind suddenly raced back to that time long ago when she was attending to the wounded Zuikaku, back in the dry dock.

"Ah..."

Hatsuzuki felt her tears welling up, but fortunately, she did not have to put in the effort to hide them from Zuikaku...

...since the door just exploded.

Zuikaku quickly stood up with reflex honed from years of military service. ignoring the wood shrapnels raining upon her, she aimed her crossbow at the figure entering the room.

 ** _"LET'S PLAY."_** shouted the Re-class battleship, and as Zuikaku saw the cannons aimed at her, Zuikaku knew they're finished.

Zuikaku felt her spirit dropping. She would not have enough time to launch her planes, let alone destroy the enemy before those cannons started firing and ripped her hull to shreds.

 **WHA-BLAM!**

But when all hope was seemingly lost, the grinning face of death in front of Zuikaku was suddenly crumpled under the weight of a massive fist.

Completely unexpected except by the owner of said fist, the battleship Nagato had arrived, charging like a bullet and sending the enemy flying hard onto the corridor, outside of Zuikaku's line of vision.

"W...what?" with how surprised Zuikaku was, one could be forgiven if they thought she's the one who had been punched by one of the Big Seven.

"Heard you're in trouble, friend!" shouted Nagato, grinning widely as if it was her birthday party. "So I came to-"

 **BLAAM!  
**

"Well, that was rude." said Nagato, seemingly undamaged except for the fact that her entire collar had been blasted away. She took a bored glance at her enemy before turning back to Zuikaku. "Anyway, you should go now. I'll take care of this."

Zuikaku felt calm. The fact that Nagato was there meant that everything was going to be fine, at least on that floor. She took one look at Hatsuzuki.

"Go." Hatsuzuki smiled.

Zuikaku smiled back.

"I'm going!" Zuikaku declared, running towards the door. Nagato stepped aside, letting Zuikaku walked through. "Take care of Hatsu for me!"

"Of course, friend!" Nagato shouted as Zuikaku disappeared around the corner. She then turned back towards her enemy.

"Young love, eh?" Nagato said, pretending that her foe could understand the concept of love.

 ** _"ARE YOU A NEW FRIEND? WANNA PLAY?"_** asked the Abyssal battleship in a cruel mockery of a human voice.

"Yes. let's play."

As she stood there, facing her foe one on one, Nagato felt strong, invincible.

All she needed then was a badass long coat, and she would feel perfect.


	53. The Cavalry Arrived

**A/N: Yup, definitely won't be able to maintain daily updates.**

 **Perhaps I will actually follow your advice and take a break, play some video games maybe.**

 **brb conquering Hispania**

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"Close the door! Close the door!"Akatsuki shouted desperately.

"We can't! get back!" Ikazuchi returned shouting.

"We can't get back any further, dammit! and where is Hibiki?!"

Suddenly, Hibiki came out from the far corner of the room, holding a clear glass bottle filled with clear liquid.

"Move aside." the Russophile said as she met her lips with the glass mouth, bubbles filling the bottle as she emptied its content.

"Hibiki! this is not the time for vodka!" barked Akatsuki in an authoritative voice not fitting her stature. her younger sister ignored her, however, and merely walked towards the Abyssal head that had managed to force the door slightly open and was already halfway into the room.

Without any warning, Hibiki exhaled while one of her fairies protrude herself out of her dress collar, bringing a wick of flame from her own boilers. A stream of alcohol and flame burst out of HIbiki's mouth, hitting the Abyssal right in the face.

A great inhuman scream could be heard across the room, driving the people cowering behind Hibiki even further into despair. However, the gambit paid off. The Abyssal was driven back, burning, allowing the rest of the Akatsuki sisters to start blocking the door with anything they could find.

"It should be safe now, nano desu." remarked Inazuma as she leaned on a large table she had just put against the door. "Thank goodness these guys don't have any guns."

"It's not good at all."

"Hibiki, you want to say something?" said Akatsuki.

"Those are sniffers. the way they move suggests that they're designed to hunt for people hiding in small spaces quickly, like chaser dogs. I think Stalin used something like them on his purge."

Ikazuchi's face turned grim. "Hunting for people? you mean like..."

"Like us." finished Akatsuki.

Hibiki nodded. "Worse yet, they're clearly meant to operate on land. The next few years of this war will be very interesting indeed."

They must have talked too loudly since some of the civilians suddenly began crying loudly.

"And there goes what's left of our morale." snarked Ikazuchi. "Any ideas?"

Akatsuki broke off from her sisters, walked past the civilians, and towards Juneau and Sullivans who were facing a door that's supposed to be their exit but was blocked by a thick steel plate.

"Any progress?"

"Nu-uh." uttered Sullivans, shaking her head slowly and making her short brown hair bopped around in a way that Akatsuki would've found hilarious in any other situation.

"It's too thick. even a battleship would not be able to break it." said Juneau.

"We're trapped then?"

"Even if we could break it all that awaited us is the open sky. Maybe we could then signal for help, but..."

"They'll get us first." cut Hibiki, who had just caught up with Akatsuki.

"A last stand, then?" followed Ikazuchi.

The ever positive Inazuma was the last to join, and she suddenly found all eyes directed at her.

Inazuma gulped. "W-whatever happens, at least we'll go through it together this time, nano desu!"

Hibiki chuckled. "Well, I could think of many worse ways to die." She had lived as Hibiki and Verniy, and died as Dekabrist. and this time she would die again as Hibiki.

Hibiki was her favorite name, anyway. The kanji would look beautiful on a gravestone.

Suddenly, a great thundering sound could be heard, and the ships could see that their makeshift barricade was giving away.

"Hold it!" shouted Akatsuki, but before they could even take a single step, the barricade and the door basically exploded.

Wood and steel shrapnels rained upon all in the room, and the ships prepared themselves for one last combat, but the enemy they were waiting for would never come.

"Everyone alright?!" A tomboyish voice could be heard, and when the destroyers realized who it was coming from, their faces lit up with joy.

"Tenryuu-nee!" shouted Akatsuki, immediately scuttering towards her lead cruiser. She was immediately followed by Sullivans and the rest of her sisters. Juneau, however, was more interested in the small figure Tenryuu was carrying.

"O'Bannon!"

Juneau quickly approached Tenryuu to take the clearly wounded and unconscious O'Bannon from her hands, freeing Tenryuu to hug the rest of her destroyers.

"You've all been good?"

"Of course we are!" shouted Ikazuchi, smiling widely. There were no worries visible on her face.

"What about you, Sullivans? you good?"

"Uh-huh." Sullivans nodded. Tenryuu responded by patting her gently on the head, ruffling her hair. The little American DD didn't seem to be amused by the affectionate gesture, however, and mumbled in protest.

"Nnhh..."

"Ehehe...sorry."

After she had made sure that her charge were all fine and healthy, Tenryuu turned her attention to Juneau.

"What happened?" Juneau asked, caressing O'Bannon in her arms.

"Found her on the floor somewhere, alone. There were some enemies I needed to take care of but they're not that many. Most of the Abyssal seem to be rushing back downstairs, something big is probably happening below."

Juneau looked at the remain of the destroyed door, and indeed, there were no Abyssal in sight.

"So...uh...what you guys been up to?" asked Tenryuu suddenly in a relaxed tone unbefitting the situation.

"We've been trying to get that thing open." Hibiki answered, pointing at the steel plate blocking the exit.

"Oh? looks tough." Tenryuu slowly walked up for a closer look. examining the steel plate, she took out her blade from her belt, and gave the steel a good whack, just to check the material.

Unexpectedly, the steel slammed open, revealing a regular wooden door behind.

"Uhh...totally meant to do that." Tenryuu lied, though her words were drowned by the crowd's sigh of relief.

"That's amazing, nano desu!" shouted Inazuma, as innocent as ever.

With a smile and a loud kick, Tenryuu blasted through the flimsy wooden door, and after what seemingly a very long time in that enclosed building Tenryuu yet again breathe the crisp fresh air of the night.

But then, Tenryuu's knees buckled.

"Tenryuu!?" Juneau immediately rushed to Tenryuu's side.

"It's okay." Tenryuu raised her hand, stopping Juneau and the destroyers following her in their tracks. "Just a bit...fatigued..."

"Wait a minute...Tenryuu-nee, how did you get up here?" asked Hibiki.

"Ugh, manually." said Tenryuu, raising her bloodied blade.

"You fought your way up here?" asked Juneau, visibly shocked.

"Kind of."

Tenryuu stood up with more force than strictly necessary, trying to downplay her fatigue and wounds. "Anyway, let's see what we can do..."

Slowly and carefully Tenryuu walked to the edge of the building and looked down, trying to not contract acrophobia on the way. She was relieved when she saw numerous police sirens and other emergency vehicles surrounding the locked down building.

"Good, it shouldn't be that hard to get their atten-..."

Just as Tenryuu was about to finish her words, one of the windows a few floors below her shattered, and from the gaping hole a head protruded. At first Tenryuu thought it was a human head, but soon the head turned in an angle impossible for a human neck to do without breaking, and the eyes looking at Tenryuu were definitely showing an inhuman lust for blood.

"Ri-class!" Tenryuu shouted. "Get back!"

"What...?" Juneau looked confused, just like the rest of people behind her.

"Get back inside!"

Juneau looked hesitant for a moment, but she then dutifully began to usher the humans and the destroyers back into the building, despite their protest.

Tenryuu looked back down the side of the building, and saw the Abyssal climbing, bending the concrete like clay to hold. Without any cannons Tenryuu couldn't do anything, so she walked back, preparing to fight a definitely superior foe on an even ground.

Slowly, the enemy heavy cruiser picked itself up the edge of the roof, and soon it was standing right in front of Tenryuu, numerous giant guns pointed directly forward.

For a moment, the light cruiser and the heavy cruiser froze in a standoff. The Ri-class CA was carefully eyeing Tenryuu's blade, wondering what the obviously outgunned ship's going to do.

Meanwhile, Tenryuu was heightening her senses as high as her training allowed her, seeking for any mechanical sounds, movements, anything that'd signal that her enemy was about to fire.

Tenryuu's sharp ears caught the noise of the trigger mechanism inside the heavy cruiser's guns just in time before a blast of fire sent numerous explosive slugs towards her. Tenryuu jumped to the side as the floor behind her was shattered, but the blast was enough to propel her a few meters into the air. Like a cat, Tenryuu twisted in mid-air and landed on her feet. Not wasting any time, Tenryuu immediately sought to exploit the heavy cruiser's reloading and the smoke caused by its own gun, and charged.

And that's when she heard another 'click' from the trigger.

'Shit. autoloader.'

Tenryuu's realization came too late. with another deafening thunder of the guns, Tenryuu felt an explosion directly over her heart. Suddenly she realized that she was flailing in the air, and the ground was closing in quickly.

Tenryuu felt like her entire skeleton was crushed as she hit the concrete floor. when she stopped sliding on the ground, she immediately tried to get up again, only to came to a painful realization that one of her enemy's guns had hit her right through the leg.

Soon Tenryuu found herself gasping for air, but oxygen simply could not travel through destroyed lungs. She struggled to open her eyes through the pain, and saw her enemy closing in for a coup de grace.

But just when Tenryuu thought that she was going to die meaninglessly, she could see a trail of flame and the gleam of a glass bottle traveling through the air towards her enemy.

The molotov cocktail broke apart and the Ri-class screamed, more in irritation than in pain as the liquid fire spread into its internal mechanism.

"UUUUUUURRRRRAAAAAAAA!"

A deafening scream came from such a small stature, a stature charging into an enemy that she could not hope to defeat alone. But she was not alone. Behind her, holding what Tenryuu recognized as her own blade, was the destroyer Inazuma, her face burning like a ball of plasma with an uncharacteristic rage.

Hibiki rushed and slammed head first into the heavy cruiser, stunning it. Inazuma used this chance to jump onto her enemy, encircling her legs around its midsection for support. Tenryuu watched in awe and horror as she started to stab her enemy repeatedly and with such ferocity that it would even appall a member of the IJA. Inazuma was too small, too close for the Ri class to deal with its clumsy weaponry, and with a kick from Hibiki, soon the heavy cruiser fell, dead.

"You know, Tenryuu-nee. It would be nice if you start considering us more and stop fighting alone." said Inazuma while wiping the blood of her enemy from her face, sounding more angry than sympathetic even as she moved in to tend to the gravely wounded Tenryuu. Tenryuu wanted to give a snarky reply, but her lungs were already full of blood.

Although Hibiki and Inazuma were the first to come out to the rooftop, the first ship that actually reached Tenryuu's side was the cruiser Juneau. Tenryuu felt a tickling sensation on her chest as Juneau sent her repair fairies down in Tenryuu's gaping chest wound, dragging some sort of small rubber hose coming out from between Juneau's dress buttons.

Tenryuu felt something being connected inside her. Juneau took a deep breath, and Tenryuu felt her lungs being filled and she suddenly could breathe again, which was impossible.

"Nice...trick." remarked Tenryuu, using the air from Juneau's lungs to power her vocal cord.

"Learned it...haa...from a friend." said Juneau between her deep breaths. "Live and I might teach you."

Now that her brain no longer deprived of oxygen, Tenryuu had no problem of perceiving the sound of the people stampede running away from the building and onto the rooftop.

"Guys! they're back!" shouted Ikazuchi.

"They got us on the flank! Shut the door!" shouted Akatsuki from somewhere Tenryuu couldn't see.

"Call...for help..." Tenryuu wheezed.

Hibiki was the first to stand up, but before she could make a message to throw below or anything, something happened.

With a deafening sound of rotors and wind, a great light ascended over the rooftop, its shines obscuring the figure a flying metal beast behind. For a moment Tenryuu thought a new type of enemy had arrived, until she realized that it was merely a military transport helicopter.

Tenryuu could see a figure in white perching near the helicopter's open door, wearing full destroyer rigging including a spear and antennas much like Tenryuu's own hovering near a head full of long white hair. The figure jumped, landing firmly but heavily on the rooftop accompanied by the sound of cracking concrete.

"Murakumo-chan!" called Inazuma.

"Sheesh, can't you guys go one night without things going to hell really fast?" asked the destroyer to no one in particular.

Tenryuu smiled, relieved. Reinforcement had come and they'd soon be out of this mess. However, Tenryuu's relief didn't last for long, for immediately following Murakumo was another figure, this one clad in black, holding yet another spear and with a steel halo hovering over her head.

"Fufu...good evening, Tenryuu-chan."

It's the voice of somebody that so many months ago Tenryuu was so glad to hear would be assigned to a different naval base from her.

Tenryuu sighed defeatedly. "Somebody please shoot me again."


	54. Their Fates

Zuikaku had just reached the ground floor again when her admiral grabbed her.

"Where do you think you're going?" said Admiral Goto amongst the clamor of people preparing to evacuate upwards.

"Down. Why?" said Zuikaku, trying to sound as casual as possible.

Admiral Goto's brow visibly twitched.

"I need every ship to help with the evacuation process. You're the one with the biggest horsepower. I need you at the front."

Zuikaku almost got angry, but she knew that acting like a petulant child would only hurt her cause. she needed to be reasonable.

"You're just going to lose two fleet carriers? The two you've sent there yourself?"

"They knew the risk. they volunteered."

"You're going to lose the Enterprise. You think the Americans would care if she volunteered?"

Goto's face turned sour.

"What do you even think you could do, then? In the end, we'll still need someone down there to keep the door open."

"Hm..." Zuikaku muttered a random noise from her throat, stalling, giving herself time to think. "With all the noise we're bound to make going upwards, we might attract attention away from Enterprise. I think the Abyssal forces in the basement should be manageable if we applied enough pressure."

"Pure speculation." barked Goto. "Most likely the Abyssal know that we need to hold the basement if we want to keep our escape route open. They'll pour in there like a flood."

"More the reason to reinforce the main control room. If they fell, we're all doomed."

Hearing Zuikaku's argument, the admiral grabbed her chin and moved into a deep thought, biting her lips.

"No matter what you say, we simply just don't have enough ships with any meaningful combat capability to spare. we need to stick together."

The curse of logistic and strategic resources had always been the bane of any navy, especially the Japanese. To have it haunting Zuikaku once more at a time like this was really irritating for the carrier. She immediately spun the gears in her mind, trying to think up of another tactically viable excuse to go and help Enterprise.

And then, just like it had happened many times before in Japanese history, Zuikaku's answer came from the sky.

The room went almost silent as the sound of Mitsubishi Kasei engine filled the room, and all eyes were suddenly directed at a single plane that just flew into the hall.

"Oh, a Jill?" said Texas from somewhere nearby.

"A Tenzan..." said Admiral Goto.

The single bomber circled the room for a while before suddenly burst into a floating ball of flame. Zuikaku watched as the ball of flame moved and morphed in mid-air in a very stable pattern as if possessing its own thoughts. Then, the ball of flame disappeared, leaving a hovering Peregrine Falcon in its place.

The falcon scanned the room, spotted what she was looking for, and dived towards a certain short-haired admiral.

"Rei?" Admiral Goto called to the short haired admiral, now with a bird of prey perching on her shoulder.

"A message." said Admiral Rei, approaching closer as she took out a roll of letter from the bird's claw. "Ah, it's from Taiyou."

"Taiyou?" asked Admiral Goto.

"An escort carrier that just got assigned to my base. Let's see..."

Admiral Rei opened the letter, and her eyes widened.

"They've breached the roof, and they've brought back-up."

Zuikaku saw the face of her own admiral lit up.

"How many?"

"Here." Admiral Rei gave the letter to Admiral Goto.

Admiral Goto looked at the paper once, and her face immediately turned serious.

"I need a pen and paper."

"Here." said the secretary Ooyodo with a notebook in hand, showing up out of nowhere like a good secretary she was.

Admiral Goto then scribbled on the notebook for a while, her face looked strained. Finally, she ripped a page she had just written on and gave it to Admiral Rei, which gave it one glance before abruptly walking away towards her own fleet. Admiral Goto then turned back to Zuikaku.

"Zuikaku. your request is granted. Take Iowa and Kongo with you. Focus on the restoration of the communication system. I'll see if I can get you an engineer from the conventional fleet. Gather your task force and report to me in five."

Zauikaku responded with a perhaps overly enthusiastic salute.

"Yes! Ma'am!"

"And Zuikaku?" Admiral Goto spoke again.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Get someone to fix you arm."

 **xxx**  
 **xxx**  
 **xxx**

"I'd never thought that I will die the second time fighting with an American." said Kaga, lying on her back on a very luxurious bed.

"What about fighting with a friend?" said Enterprise, leaning on the wall.

Kaga lazily turned her head aside in a way that's really uncharacteristic of her prideful self. She looked really tired, sloppy, and untidy, with her considerable breasts almost popping out of her nearly undone kimono.

"Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The gray rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass..."

"...and then you see the white shores, and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise." finished Enterprise. "That's the movie version, right? I wasn't expecting you to follow this kind of thing."

Kaga turned her attention to the ceiling, supporting her head with her crossed arms behind her neck.

"New Zealand looked great. If I survived this entire mess, I think I'll travel south. This time not as a conqueror, but as an honored guest."

Enterprise smiled. "Would you like a company in this journey of yours?"

Kaga looked at Enterprise, smiling back.

"I think you'd have someone else that'd need your company."

Enterprise looked down, trying to hide her blush in the darkness. "I guess you're right."

"Uh...guys?" The somewhat somber conversation between the two carriers broke down when the cruiser Sendai suddenly called. "The monitor is showing many, many red dots running towards a green dot. I think the green dot is us."

"Are they..?" asked Kaga, rising from her near slumber.

"Yes." said the hotel owner in front of the console. "They're coming again for another try, but the vault door should..."

 **BLAAAM!**

The entire room shook, and the console started giving a series of loud sirens and showing warning signs. The hotel owner's face was suddenly filled with horror.

"Impossible! The door's an entire three meters of solid..."

The owner's words stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. The carrier Kaga had somehow approached her completely unnoticed.

"We've done our best. let the future judge if it was enough."

Hearing Kaga's words, the Chinese lady buckled, looked down to the floor, and started to mumble.

"Shit. should've followed mother's advice and made some heirs..."

The cruiser Sendai was the next to respond to their new situation.

"So, this is it, then?" said Sendai, looking dejected.

"Raise your head, cruiser." said Kaga with a booming voice. "For if we are to be damned, let us be damned for what we really are. Warriors..."

Kaga switched her gaze from Sendai to Enterprise.

"...soldiers..."

Kaga then once again wrapped her hand around the shoulder of the hotel owner.

"...comrades..."

 **BLAAM!**

Once again the room shook, and the sirens were getting louder and louder. Enterprise nodded to herself.

"So many people are depending on us to hold this single room. The line must be drawn here, here and no further." whispered Enterprise. "Most of us had died once. At least this time it'd be easier."

"Ugh, speak for yourself." said the hotel owner, back to struggling with her console.

And then, just as suddenly as it had started, the sirens stopped.

The ships in that bunker, all well prepared for their second death, would be left disappointed if they're not too busy being confused as all the red dots on the monitor started disappearing one by one.

"Huh?" all in the room uttered in unison. The hotel owner, the only human there, was the first to recover.

"Uh...let's see if I could connect to the door's external camera..."

The screen lit up, and Enterprise's heart almost fell as it showed an image of a very familiar twin-tailed girl, clearly wounded heavily but still grinning to the camera. Behind her were two equally familiar and equally battered battleships, standing on top of a very large Abyssal that clearly had just died recently.

Zuikaku began to speak to the camera. Her voice was distorted by the camera mic, but Enterprise could've recognized that voice even through a meter of salt water.

"Hi, honey. missed me?"


	55. Salvation

The submarine tender Otus ran around the building's rooftop like a cat, avoiding the stream of people coming out of the single exit and into a tandem rotor heavy-lift helicopter perching at the edge of the building. The only part of the helicopter that actually touched the ground was the tail, with the rest hanging past the edge in mid-air, held up by just a single engine.

"Close your ears, people!" Otus screamed, and somewhere else the repair ship Akashi was repeating said instruction in Japanese as dozens of high caliber naval guns repeatedly went off one after another, ripping the humans' vulnerable ear drums with their shockwaves and covering everyone with smog, so much that Otus' face was almost as black as her hair and coverall.

The battleships were positioned in two lines, guarding the route between the door and the helicopter. Meanwhile, the cruisers and destroyers alongside a handful of auxiliary ships and submarines were protecting the civilians inside the building itself as they ascended the stairs. It was a very efficient system, but with the flank secured the Abyssal were encouraged to try another route, and try they did.

Together with the single exit door, the building's defense system was also disabled for the five uppermost floors, allowing the Abyssal to break the windows there and started climbing up to the rooftop like zombies from a cheap horror movie. Without even waiting for their friends, those who came first immediately charged as soon as their disfigured feet touched the ground, only to be repelled by the battleships.

BLAM!

Yet another explosion in a series of many could be heard, but this one was different. It's too close. It was the scream of the battleship Yamashiro that erased any doubt that things were starting to go south.

Fortunately, when the smoke cleared around Yamashiro, it was certain that the battleship was still combat ready, if only a little shaken. Her traditional Miko robe was almost untouched, and her expression was filled with rage instead of pain.

"Akashi!" Yamashiro shouted harshly. "Four gun mounts down! one-five-two!"

Akashi reacted quickly to the call. Her rigging started to move, metal arms lashing out ready to repair Yamashiro's 152mm guns.

"Red Oak!" Akashi called to the American supply ship somewhere among the crowd. "Get me the EAS-4!"

Out of nowhere, the dark-skinned ship jumped out, carrying a large sack on her back. "Aye-aye! ma'am!"

As the battle raged on, Otus herself was busy tending to the wounded, both humans and ships, readying them for the next helicopter ride. She was particularly worried about the submarine she was currently taking care of.

"Uh...hum?"

Albacore regained consciousness like she had done many times before, but just like before her eyes merely moved a little, looking around confusedly before immediately closing again.

"Dammit."

Otus cursed. She was sent to Japan especially to act as a submarine tender for Albacore. If Albacore died then it'd look bad on her record. There's also the prospect of losing a good friend, which was suck.

"HA!" Suddenly Otus heard a hearty laugh, its tone very unbefitting the warzone situation. "You'll have more glorious work to do, friend!"

Otus looked to the side to see what she recognized as the figure of the Japanese battleship Nagato, carrying what seemed like a mountain of men on each shoulder, both conscious and unconscious, all wounded. Carefully she put the men beside Otus, piling them up like sacks of rice in a warehouse.

"You gotta be kidding me." Otus groaned.

"No, I am not partaking in any comedic action right now. How is Hatsuzuki?"

Otus looked to the side to a spot near the edge of the roof where a large destroyer was currently asleep.

"She'll be fine." said Otus simply.

"Good." Nagato sighed, relieved. "I promised that I'd take care of her."

"Then I will make sure to not make you an oathbreaker, then."

Suddenly, Otus felt a vibration in the airwave. She was too distracted by her duty to actually adjust her antenna to it, though.

"WHAT?!" Admiral Goto screamed from somewhere near the door. She then turned and moved to the middle of the battleship formation, talking to her personal radio all the while.

"Alright, people!" the admiral clapped. "We're having a VIP coming! Tighten the formation!"

And the battleships did so, standing shoulder by shoulder. Otus could see the battleship Yamashiro lighting up as her skin touched that of her sister's, even through the early morning darkness.

After ten minutes or so, a very distinctive voice could be heard joining with the clamor on the rooftop.

"VIP's here!" shouted the cruiser Sendai, with a black haired lady limping by her side. The lady was carrying what looked like a very large laptop.

"Miss Nagato, could you see to my station for a bit? I need to check on them..."

"Sure, but only for a bit." answered Nagato, her repair fairies already congregating on her shoulders.

Otus immediately went to the door, just in time to see Sendai collapsing.

"Are you alright?!" shouted Otus.

Sendai immediately tried to stand up again, with little success.

"Ugh...out of steam."

"I need some water please! and oil!"

Responding to Otus' screaming, Liberty ship John W. Brown quickly arrived to Sendai's side.

"A bit famished, aren't we?" said the plain, black haired girl.

"Just fill me up, please."

"Good, take off your shirt."

"What?"

"Just kidding~"

As Sendai tried failingly to stop being flustered, the hotel owner was opening a hidden panel in the wall near the doorframe.

"Note to self; never use a proprietary code that only you know how it works to control your defense system." the lady mumbled to herself as she connected her big laptop to the control panel. "Also make sure that your backup console has better port than a one GBps USB."

"How is it?" asked Admiral Goto, running to the owner's side.

"Give me a second...there, I should have full control now."

"Alright, connect me to the basement."

 **xxx**  
 **Meanwhile, a few hundred meters below...**  
 **xxx**

When examining World War Two, it's rather easy to consider that suicidal tendency was exclusively the nature of the Japanese, but doing that would ignore the universal concept of desperation and self-sacrifice.

The USS Iowa was most definitely not a Japanese, but even then she was considering to simply break away from the group, to provide a distraction so that the others could have a better chance to go home safely. She'd be such a juicy target for the enemy, a single battleship, alone and unguarded...

"Something the matter?" asked Kongou.

"Uhn...nothing."

Yes, Iowa couldn't simply go and die. Kongou would definitely stop her, or worse, follow her to her death. No, she must stand strong.

"You've never died before, battleship?" asked Kaga.

"Can't say I do, ma'am." answered Iowa.

Kaga smiled. "It's not so bad, really. I don't think our enemy is one for prolonged torture. Our death would be quick."

"You'd be the worst motivational speaker ever." mocked Enterprise.

Iowa looked at the mountain of enemies in front of them, piling up near the broken vault door. Then she looked at herself and her team, scarred and tired. She hated to feel like she began to sympathize with Kaga's point of view.

"Anything, Crane?" Enterprise asked Zuikaku, who was hunching over the console.

"Huh?" Zuikaku looked at Enterprise's face, and her tongue suddenly became tied. "W-wha-what?"

"The console, doofus."

"Wha-"

Zuikaku could not get past her own confusion before the little computer in front of her suddenly rang. Enterprise, exasperated by the Japanese carrier's unusual slowness, managed to get her own fingers on the keyboard and answered the call before Zuikaku could even move a hand.

"How is it?" Enterprise asked, and answering her, the voice of Admiral Goto began to reverberate in the air.

'We're good on our side. You all can start running, we'll hold the door open for you.'

Everyone in the room except for Zuikaku gave a relieved smile.

"You hear that, people?!" shouted Enterprise excitedly, pulling her micro-shotgun from its holster under her skirt.

"Let's show these spawnlings of questionable parentage the cost of disturbing my glorious evening." said Kongou calmly, cracking her knuckles. "Iowa, dear, could you please lead the way?"

"Gladly." Iowa said happily as she started to lead the group to began their long journey upwards, followed closely by Kongou.

Enterprise was about to follow them, but she felt a hand tugging on her sleeve. She turned around to see Zuikaku's hesitant face.

"Uhh...miss Enterprise? If you have a moment..."

"'Miss Enterprise'?" Enterprise raised her eyebrow. Zuikaku had looked so gallant and confident when she rushed in with the reinforcement, but now she looked as meek as an abandoned kitten. And what's with the sudden polite name?

"Uh...well, I know you've told me to not talk to you for a while...but could I ask only for a minute? after all of this is over, of course."

"I told you what?" Enterprise's mind took a while to go back to a moment earlier in the evening. "That? you're still thinking about that?"

Now it's Zuikaku's turn to look confused.

"You...don't?"

"In a situation like this? of course not!" Enterprise shouted. "Are you kidding me? we're surrounded by the enemy and you...you know what? forget what I said. When this is over I'll reserve for you all the time you'll ever want to talk to me. Now get your planes up."

"Oi, what's the holdup!? Hurry up or we'll leave you!" Iowa shouted from the door.

"Give us a minute, please!"

Enterprise turned around and started walking, expecting Zuikaku to follow her. But Zuikaku didn't move.

"Uh...um..."

Enterprise turned around, somewhat irritated. "What is it now?"

Zuikaku twirled her hands, playing with her own fingers. "Does this mean that we're still together? You and I?"

Enterprise clasped a hand over her face. "Oh for fuck's sake."

"I..."

Zuikaku was not given the time to sound her apology, for in the moment it took her to open her mouth, Enterprise had lurched forward, grabbed Zuikaku by her twin tails, and pulled.

"Mmph?!"

Zuikaku's mouth was still half open when their lips met, allowing Enterprise's tongue a free reign to explore. The surprised Zuikaku instinctively tried to step back, but Enterprise quickly moved her hands around Zuikaku, hugging her tightly as she pushed deeper.

After a moment that felt too brief for Zuikaku, Enterprise broke off, wiping her mouth.

"Sheesh, I feel like I'm dating a virgin."

Zuikaku was not in any condition to give out any clever reply.

"But I am a...oh." It took a while until Zuikaku remembered that, no, she was not without experience.

"You really don't remember?" Enterprise asked, looking disappointed.

"Sorry, but..."

"Well..." Enterprise began to turn again, but her eyes were still fixed to Zuikaku as she licked her lips playfully. "I guess I'll just have to remind you later, then."


	56. The End

The sound of battle still rang upon her ears, yet she didn't care.

As the sound of the metal gate closing behind her echoed into the quiet morning, Zuikaku knew she was safe. She could see her comrades all around her, still fighting. And although they're definitely winning, they're also definitely could use an extra hand.

However, her battle was over, at least for now. She had done her part. It's up to others now.

Zuikaku was tired. Somewhere in her journey her wound had opened again. She was bleeding out, her eyes were blurring, and the voice of Enterprise calling out to her sounded distant.

The last thing she saw before her vision was filled with the rooftop's concrete floor was the horizon breaking into a brilliant orange dawn.

 **xxx**

 **xxx**  
 **xxx**

 **xxx**

Zuikaku opened her eyes, yet she still couldn't see anything. The image was too distorted. It was as if she was looking through a very murky lens.

She, however, could feel the pressure on her left hand just fine, even through her blanket. She moved her hand and soon realized that she was touching a head full of hair.

"Uhh...Zuikaku senpai?"

"I'm awake."

Zuikaku couldn't see too clearly, but she could tell that Katsuragi was smiling relievedly.

"Thank goodness..."

"Is any of my limbs missing?" Zuikaku's entire body felt numb, but that could be caused by the prolonged time in bed. "Also, how long have I been here?"

"About a full two days..." Katsuragi sounded guilty. "I'm sorry...it's because I've done such a bad job repairing your hand that you lost so much blood..."

"It's..."

"If anyone's at fault for Miss Zuikaku's condition, it's me." a voice interrupted before Zuikaku could speak.

"Hatsuzuki?"

"Alive and well, thanks to you." Hatsuzuki smiled. She looked tired but healthy, at least as healthy as someone in a hospital patient robe could look like. But of course, Zuikaku couldn't exactly see well right now and was just guessing this information.

"My eyes..."

"Akashi said your optics got knocked slightly out of alignment," explained Hatsuzuki. "She also said to give you this when you wake up."

Hatsuzuki brought her hand forward, and after missing a couple of times, Zuikaku's hand finally grabbed the box that Hatsuzuki's been trying to hand to her.

"A spectacle?"

"Should only be temporary."

Zuikaku put the oddly elegant, rimless glasses on her face.

"Uhh...how do I look?"

Zuikaku's vision quickly came back to her. It was still somewhat blurry, but now she could see the clear lines of the faces belonging to the two of her dearest friends. She could also see that the two were quickly going red in the face.

"It's..." Hatsuzuki tried to say something, only to end up turning her face away in an effort to hide her blush. Katsuragi had no such qualm, however.

"You look great, senpai."

Zuikaku smiled, but she didn't have long to bask in her own beauty for her thoughts immediately moved on to something else.

"How's the battle?"

"It's still ongoing even now, but the building is almost clear of Abyssal infestation. Miss Nagato herself is leading the effort." Hatsuzuki answered.

That's a really good news. However, Zuikaku's uttermost concern was not addressed in that answer.

"Casualties?" Zuikaku asked again.

Everyone in the room suddenly looked down.

"I'll...I'll give you a full report later, if you want." said Hatsuzuki softly, like she almost didn't have the will to say her own words.

"I...understand. does Enterprise survive?"

"She is." answered Hatsuzuki again, sounding somewhat sad.

"Where is she?"

Zuikaku felt somewhat bad asking about Enterprise in front of these two particular people, but she felt like she really needed to speak to Enterprise.

"I think she's somewhere along the eastern beaches. She likes to walk there alone every day since you had lost consciousness, for some reason."

"I see."

Zuikaku started trying to rise from her bed, but Katsuragi stopped her.

"Senpai, are you sure you're alright? you..."

Katsuragi's words were stopped when Zuikaku leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead.

"Look, I'm fine, alright? We'll get together some other times."

For all her effort to be a good senior, Zuikaku realized that she had neglected Katsuragi for quite some time.

"Maybe we'll have lunch outside sometimes, just the two of us?"

Katsuragi looked hesitant for a moment, but then her eyes widened and she smiled widely.

"Yes! Gladly!"

Zuikaku then rose up and moved towards Hatsuzuki, patting her gently on the head.

"You too, Hatsu. We should hang too. you think up of a good place and then we'll link up our schedules, okay?"

"O...okay." Hatsuzuki almost looked like melting chocolate under Zuikaku's hand.

"Oh? are those my clothes?" said Zuikaku, noticing the clothes on the corner table.

"Well, yes, it was..."

Hatsuzuki suddenly went quiet. In fact, anyone in that room who wasn't Zuikaku herself was suddenly holding their breath.

Zuikaku was not the kind of woman who's too comfortable changing in front of others when it's not necessary, but after what Hatsuzuki and Katsuragi had done for her, and knowing what they thought of her, Zuikaku figured that she might as well give them some sort of reward.

"Oh? I'm pretty clean. did someone bathe me while I was asleep?"

Katsuragi's red face was all the answer Zuikaku needed.

"Well, I guess I'm leaving now." Zuikaku said, tying the last button of her shirt. "you two take care."

Zuikaku swiftly moved out through the door with the expected grace of someone who had just spent two days in bed, leaving the two girls behind her somewhat dumbfounded.

Zuikaku recognized the building she was in as the hospital wing and quickly found herself a way out through the front gate. Once she could see her beloved sky once again, she immediately spotted an Avenger bearing the marking of the USS Enterprise soaring right above her in the crisp morning air, circling as if waiting for her. Zuikaku decided to follow it.

The route the Avenger took was indirect and full of turns, as if trying to punish Zuikaku. But it's definitely still leading to a single destination. However, it still took Zuikaku about an hour before her feet moved from hard concrete to yellow sand, way away from the naval base proper.

The white streak of Enterprise's uniform contrasted well in the early morning sun, making it difficult for Zuikaku to miss her slender figure. She was standing near a dead, rotten stump of a large tree, its decaying body looking ever uglier standing beside the ever beautiful gray ghost. Tied to a branch of the tree-corpse was a line of woven string, lined with ribbons bearing letters that Zuikaku, given the circumstances, could only regret.

A call for rejection, a request to leave, and other signs of unwelcome among a whole lot of less polite things. As Zuikaku understood it, the ribbons first became a trend in Okinawa, appearing around and near American bases, then it began to spread to the other islands.

Of course, the practice stopped when the Abyssal started attacking, Kanmusu started appearing, and most of the American bases were returned to Japan to accommodate its suddenly Imperial-sized navy. But still, seeing the remnant of the more peaceful, yet more divisive times like this, at a moment like this, was somewhat unfortunate.

"Sorry about that." said Zuikaku as Enterprise ran her fingers along the ribbons bearing insults to her country.

Hearing Zuikaku's voice, Enterprise turned around, smiling with no hint of malice. "It's alright, reading the report I could at least understand the reasoning...but..." Enterprise stopped when she got a good look at Zuikaku. "You wear glasses."

"Only temporarily." Zuikaku said as she lifted the nose of her glasses.

Enterprise curiously grinned. "You know, you should keep those. They look good on you."

For a second Zuikaku almost considered messing up her sight permanently, but decided against it and just said 'thanks' instead.

"Back to what I was saying..." Enterprise restarted as she turned her attention back to the ribbons. "Looking at these, and reminiscing on our battle last time...it got me thinking, you know?"

"Thinking about what?"

Enterprise looked down to the sand. "Well, in the end, we're still considered war machine, right? at least legally."

Hearing the concern in Enterprise's voice, Zuikaku tried to give a reassuring nod. After all, she had thought of this problem too before.

"Indeed, seeing how humans tend to always need a semblance of a common enemy to retain even a modicum of cooperation, it's really hard to see how we as living weapons will live after the war." Zuikaku gave her own thought as Enterprise once again ran her fingers through the worn ribbons.

Enterprise smiled again. This time, however, it was dry and empty, almost devoid of hope.

"I've spent countless hours musing if we could ever get married...silly, huh?"

Dread silence befell the two for a moment, until Zuikaku decided to take the first step forward.

"Well, I cannot predict the future, but there's one thing I do know, E."

"Oh? And what is it, Crane?" Enterprise smiled challengingly.

"I want to be with you."

Suddenly, fast and almost without warning, Zuikaku moved forward and grabbed Enterprise by the hand, making the unprepared American girl almost fell backward.

"W-what...?"

"I might not get my wish. We may well be separated after this war is all over, but please know this;" Zuikaku pulled Enterprise closer to her, so that her chest was pushing against Zuikaku's own. "When our guns lie silent yet before we start counting our dead, in that brief moment of absolute triumph, I want to stand by your side, victorious."

Enterprise looked at Zuikaku as if she was the strangest thing in the universe, but then she chuckled.

"you..." Enterprise gasped, wiping her own tears. "you're an idiot, you know that?"

"Perhaps I am." Zuikaku smiled, her hands still grasping Enterprise's, their eyes merely inches apart from each other. "But I'm not dumb enough to forget one very important detail."

"And what detail is that?"

"You still owe me a dance."

Enterprise looked down and realized that Zuikaku had removed her shoes, her bare toes now touching the soft sand. Almost as if hypnotized Enterprise followed suit, removing her shoes as Zuikaku led her by the hand closer to the waterline.

The moment they touched the sea, Zuikaku began humming a tune, and Enterprise trailed behind her. Their tunes were not an exact match, yet somehow the two of them managed to create a melody that'd impress the coldest of heart.

Then they began to move. Almost as if giving its blessing, the sun reflected on the wavy sea, creating the perfect shining dance floor for the two.

They were clumsy, because for all of their experience in battle they're but mere fledglings in the matters of love. But they didn't care, and as the sunrise heralded the new dawn, the two were ready to face any challenge the world could throw at them, together.

Enterprise circled her hands around the neck of the taller girl in front of her, smiling like a child as her deep red eyes bore into Zuikaku.

"I love you."

 **xxx**  
 **-The End?-**  
 **xxx**

xxx

000  
000

 **A/N: so, this is the temporary ending I've been talking about. I need to pack now.**

 **But this is not all.**

 **I hereby announce that this fic will not be my main writing focus from now on.**

 **This story already exceeded the standard length of a full blown novel, and I'd like to explore other ideas. This fic will still be updated, hence the non-existence of the -complete- tag, but it'll most likely be something like snippets, or at least not anything like the multiple parts arc I've been doing. those were a lot less fun to write anyway, IMHO.**

 **Anyway, thanks a whole bunch to all of you friends who've been with me as I wrote this mess! your companionship (and sometimes insanity, the things you guys sent to my PM...blimey) is greatly appreciated!**

 **Cheers!**

 **note to author: read this page again when it's not two in the morning. No matter how hard you try to trick your consciousness you're not a fucking owl.  
**


	57. Let's Do It Right This Time

"It's been a while, isn't it?"

Zuikaku took a long gaze around Enterprise's room. Indeed, it felt like it had been a long while since the last time Zuikaku had entered this place, with said last time ending up as a rather...memorable experience.

In that long while, Enterprise had taken it upon herself to redecorate her room, and she was insistent that Zuikaku must come and take a look. It was no longer as spartan and dreary as Zuikaku had remembered it. Now it was full of colors, to the point of almost eyesore inducing. But the fact that Enterprise's room suddenly looked like it had been graced by the rainbow god was not the thing that was most remarkable about her redecorating skill. No, it was the source of those colors. It's not like Enterprise had gone and repainted the place.

Medals, honors, and commendations of all kinds were proudly displayed on the walls, racks, and desk, alongside a few large pictures of what Zuikaku recognized as Enterprise's finest moments; Midway, Leyte, Santa Cruz, Guadalcanal, Philippine Sea...even some from Operation Magic Carpet, a post-war achievement. Walking closer to the desk, Zuikaku could see Enterprise's service ribbons and badges, lined up neatly on a display plate, right beside a box full of those curious coins that were often given to the members of the US military. Zuikaku could recognize only a limited number of these decorations (re-decorate, heh), including the congressional medal of honor. A few of it, in fact.

"One is mine, the others were given by my veterans or their descendants." Enterprise explained from the doorway where she stood.

"Cool." Zuikaku commented, almost absent mindedly as her attention was suddenly diverted to a single picture on the wall showing Enterprise, in her steel and oil glory, shooting down a flaming Zero fighter. For some reason, the sea in this picture felt familiar to Zuikaku, and so did this particular Zero.

"Philippine Sea." Enterprise said, suddenly standing beside Zuikaku without the Japanese carrier even noticed. "That plane was probably yours."

The two carriers stood in silence for a moment, before Enterprise finally spoke again.

"Do you hate it?" she said, her voice mildly worried. But it almost sounded as if she had already known what Zuikaku's answer was going to be.

"No." Zuikaku answered with confidence, facing the flesh and blood Enterprise. "I'm glad I've met you."

Looking deep into Enterprise's bright red eyes, Zuikaku smiled as she found herself reminiscing not about the many times Enterprise had bombed, torpedoed, or otherwise tried to kill her, but about the more important things, like their first kiss.

Hearing Zuikaku's response, Enterprise chuckled. A crisp, light hearted chuckle that calmed Zuikaku's heart like nothing else in the world. With a smile, she turned to sit on her bed, signaling for Zuikaku to follow.

"It's funny where the current of time has brought us, huh? Remember that time when we tried to kill each other?"

"Feels like so long ago." said Zuikaku as she took her seat beside Enterprise, their elbows all but touching.

As Zuikaku watched her, Enterprise looked up to the ceiling, seemingly thinking of something.

"So, what are you going to do after this?" Enterprise asked, her eyes still locked on the roof.

"hm?"

"After the war's over."

Zuikaku looked to the opposite direction as Enterprise, right into the floor. She actually had asked this very same question for a long time now.

"You first." Zuikaku said, trying to give herself time to think.

"Me?" Enterprise looked at Zuikaku, smiling earnestly. "I'd like to go to space."

"What?" Zuikaku asked. She clearly didn't expect that.

"I am quite tired of fighting, honestly." Enterprise sighed, looking back to the ceiling. "I warred. Then after it's over, I was retired. Then they called me to war once again.. All of my life has been wars. If given the chance, I'd like to see how humanity could achieve something beyond...this."

Enterprise slammed her foot onto the floor, as if trying to kick the entire world.

"So...the next logical conclusion is...space?" Zuikaku asked, somewhat bewildered.

Enterprise nodded. "We've spent most of our lives in the open seas, with the clear view of the sky at all times. Tell me, Crane, that you have not once looked at the stars and wondered how they look like up close."

"Probably just slightly different than our own sun?" Zuikaku gave her answer.

"Sol? that boring, yellow, G-type blob? Come on, Crane."

"Hey, I'm not an astronomist." Zuikaku shrugged. "And knowing you, you'd probably just accidentally crashed into a Klingon warbird and started a star war or something."

"Hah!" Enterprise gave one good laugh, shaking her entire body. "You actually made a Star Trek Joke! I know forcing you to watch the entire original series was worth it!"

"If a year ago someone told me that I would have constant nightmares about a salt-sucking monster from the planet M-113 I would have told them to make a better joke."

Enterprise put a hand on her mouth, holding back a laugh before finally managing to calm herself and looked at Zuikaku.

"So, I've told you my plan. What about yours?"

"Well, nothing fancy, really." Zuikaku took a deep breath. "Certainly not as fancy as yours. It's more...earthbound."

"Either way, I want to hear it."

Zuikaku nodded, steeling herself.

"The main idea is to live a good, satisfying, civilian life." Zuikaku paused, wondering if Enterprise would give a comment on the boringness of her plan. When she saw Enterprise waiting patiently with her chin on her hand, she continued. "So the first thing would be giving myself a college degree and a good job. Probably in engineering. Then I'd either rent or buy a home for myself and my family."

"Your...family? you mean your sister?"

"Possibly." Zuikaku looked down, trying to hide her shining red face. "I'm also thinking of getting married."

Now it's Enterprise's turn to lock her gaze onto the floor.

"Marriage, huh?"

"Uh-huh."

"Thinking of having any kids?"

Zuikaku gulped, suddenly feeling very nervous.

"Many children got orphaned in this war so...maybe I'll adopt some."

Zuikaku looked at Enterprise and saw that her thin white skin had turned blazing pink.

"How many, exactly?"

Zuikaku bit her lips.

"Five is around the standard in my time, but considering the situation, I think I'd be happy with just two."

"Two, huh?"

"Yeah." Zuikaku nodded. "I'd prefer girls."

"Me too." Enterprise added.

The two carriers then went silent. It was safe to say that everyone in the room perfectly understood the implication of the conversation that had just occurred.

"Hey, Crane. Remember that time when you pushed me onto my own bed while drunk?"

Zuikaku almost bit her tongue off.

"W...what?!"

"You're fortunate that it was me. Any other girl and you could end up in jail, forcing yourself like that."

Zuikaku once again found herself staring at the floor.

"Sorry..." Zuikaku said, her guilt had rendered her unable to form any other word.

But then she felt Enterprise's hand touching her own, and when she raised her head, she saw her face, their lips all but touching.

"Let's do it right this time, shall we?" 


	58. Short Ladies

"Short girls are just adorable, aren't they?"

"What?"

Zuikaku raised her face from the newspaper she had been reading, now looking straight at Saratoga's ecstatic face. They were sitting in a lounge, of which the admiral had modeled after a Victorian-era gentleman club, with a few other ships. Iowa was sitting right beside Zuikaku, her weight pressing on the sofa so that Zuikaku had been sitting slightly crooked the whole time. Juneau, the American AA cruiser, was near the counter, grabbing herself some sweet confectionaries. Slightly further away, Yamato, who had been recalled back to Japan from Pearl Harbor due to the intensifying Abyssal activity in home waters, was watching news from a massive television screen attached to the wall.

"Come on, you know what I'm talking about."

In the last couple of weeks, many Kanmusu had been coming out with their relationships. Fortunately, in regard of fraternization within the military, Kanmusu forces tend to get a lot of leeways. It was no secret that Saratoga had been getting close with a certain light carrier bearing a dragon in her name.

"I know what you're talking about. But why exactly do you bring it out now?"

"Well, because of you, of course. and Enterprise."

It also was no secret that Zuikaku relationship had experienced a slight upgrade. It's official now. Everyone in the base knew about it, and neither Enterprise nor Zuikaku was going to deny if asked.

"So, what about it? Do you think of Enterprise's height as her charm point?" prodded Saratoga, leaning forward in her excitement.

"...ukh." Zuikaku whimpered. It had not been a month after Zuikaku and Enterprise went official, and Zuikaku was still uncomfortable talking about this sort of stuff so openly. Enterprise was indeed shorter than Zuikaku, but not by that much. It's more that Zuikaku's overpowered engine and focus on archery made her quite bulky and muscular for her size, making Enterprise looked small by comparison.

"Well, it's not like I ever thought about anything like that..." Zuikaku said dismissively, hiding her face behind her newspaper.

"What?" Iowa said, suddenly joining in as she continued to gobble chocolate chips cookies from a jar in a way one with normal sized hands would do a pack of potato chips. "You don't find it easier for you in bed with a smaller girl as your partner?"

If Zuikaku had been drinking, she would've spat it out right now.

"W...what?"

"Ah, indeed, Miss Zuikaku does feel like the kind of person that would use brute force to dominate."

"She does, doesn't she?" Iowa laughed.

"Stop putting words in my mouth, please." Zuikaku said, once again trying to keep her dignity behind her newspaper.

"Then again, small ladies could be surprisingly assertive, you know." Iowa added, looking afar dreamily as if reminiscing a good memory.

"Oh? I'd have never expected you to be the one playing the bottom, Miss Iowa."

"Oh, we take turns."

Zuikaku wanted to run, to get out of the room as fast as possible. But doing that felt like it would be akin to admitting her defeat, somehow.

"What about you, Miss Juneau?" Saratoga continued when Juneau took a seat beside her, carrying a plate of scones. Sweeping a lock of blonde curly hair from her eyes, Juneau gave Saratoga a questioning look.

"Hm? Sorry, I did not follow your conversation."

"She meant Tenryuu." explained Iowa. "She's basically a destroyer leader, right? Almost a full destroyer. She's pretty small."

"Your point?"

"We..." Saratoga gestured towards herself, Iowa, and Zuikaku. "...want to know whether or not you like to take advantage of your...superior size."

"We? Oh, nonono. Leave me out of this." Zuikaku said, burying her face deeper into the paper.

"Size...oh." Juneau quickly covered her face when she finally realized what Saratoga was actually asking. "Uh...we haven't done anything like that yet..."

Saratoga looked shocked. Iowa looked horrified.

"Really?" Saratoga asked, seemingly unable to believe Juneau's words.

"Uhh...we're too busy taking care and training the destroyers..." Juneau gave her excuse, thought her delivery was far from convincing.

"Sheesh. It's not good to be sexless parents, you know. You need to take the initiative to keep your relationship stable." Iowa said, as if that advice should be a common knowledge.

"P...wha.." Juneau stuttered, her body seemingly immobilized.

"I think we broke her." Saratoga said.

"Oh, heavens help me." whispered Zuikaku, still hiding behind her stack of papers.

Meanwhile, the mighty, positively massive Yamato was secretly laughing, while watching a certain Pennsylvania-class battleship giving a speech on TV.


	59. Our Little Bird, part 1

She could hear the panicked voices of her friends all around her, yet none of the words made any sense.

Something about...concussion? Critical...blood...

Dying?

 _'Please, no. Not again.'_

Hatsuzuki...is that you, old friend?

She tried to open her eyes.

 _'No, keep your eyes closed.'_

Enterprise..? Right, she was sailing right beside her in the battlegroup. Thank the gods, she sounded fine. But what's that about her eyes?

 _'They're full of shrapnels right now, don't aggravate the wound.'_

was that so...well, then, maybe she'd just...go sleep, then.

 _'We're losing her!'_

Ah...Akashi...and you just gave me a new eye, too. I'm sorry.

 _'Fifth Carrier Div...Zuikaku! Don't you dare go to sleep! You just took a few light bombs! Do you think this is a death worthy of a fleet carrier!?'_

Oi, shut up you damn yakitori. You sank in seventeen minutes.

She just needed some rest, that's all. She had been fighting for so long...

...just a minute of nap...

...that's all...

 **xxx**

* * *

 **xxx**

Zuikaku woke up with a sting behind her head.

 _'Ugh, this ceiling begins to feel awfully familiar'_ she thought as she pinned her gaze to a single spot on the medical wing's roof, trying to regain focus.

"Nice, you're awake."

Zuikaku looked to the side and came face to face with a certain submarine, reading a book on a bed beside hers.

"I guess we should call a nurse...except if you want to get familiar with your, uh, situation, on your own term, of course." said Albacore through the bandages covering her face. It'd still be many months before Albacore could get back in the field, but Zuikaku was glad she was alive. At the very least, she'd have a friend to talk with in the medical wing.

"My situation? What are you talking about?" Zuikaku asked. She noticed that her voice was a bit high in tone, and also somewhat nasal. She wondered if her voicebox took some damage.

"Well, you died." Albacore said, barely moving her eyes from her book.

"No, I didn't." Zuikaku responded very reasonably. After all, she's still talking right now.

"No, you died." Albacore insisted. "You were just a hunk of dead meat and tubes when they brought you here. your brain was barely intact. Your heart and lungs were gone completely."

Zuikaku furrowed her eyebrows.

"That can't be...I'm still alive, aren't I?"

Zuikaku raised an arm to make sure she's not incorporeal. She's not, but was her hand always looked this...small?

Albacore scratched her head, obviously trying to deliver a very confusing series of facts as simply as possible.

"You're alive now, but you were dead as dead can be. Well, at least your old body did. They had to, uh, dispose of it."

Zuikaku shook her head as she rose from her bed. Well, at least she was trying to.

"Look, why don't you start from the begi-"

Her words stopped as she fell hard onto the floor. Somehow the bed was a lot higher than she had expected.

"Look, perhaps it'd be easier to just show you."

Albacore stood. Perhaps it was simply because Zuikaku was still laying down on the floor, but Albacore looked awfully big for a submarine...

From her bedside table, Albacore pulled out a smartphone. After fiddling with it for a bit, she turned towards Zuikaku.

"Here."

Zuikaku took it.

On the screen was a picture of a small girl with long flowing black hair laying on the floor in what looked like a hospital gown. She had gentle facial features and lean, elegant limbs. Even with a short glance, Zuikaku knew that this child would grow up into a stunningly beautiful woman.

"Uh, yeah, fortunately, they had some...err...spare parts, left over from Saratoga's summoning. Not very much, though."

Zuikaku was just about to ask what Albacore's staggered words actually meant when she realized that the phone's front camera was on, and the girl in the picture was following her exact movements.

Realization quickly struck Zuikaku, and she promptly gave the appropriate response.

"WHAT THE HELL!?"

* * *

 **A/N: I surprisingly had some free time, so I've decided that I'm going to write a 'mini-arc' starring a Shinichi Kudo'd Zuikaku for the next few days.**

 **Also, I've written a short story about Zuikaku's war experience and was thinking about posting it as a chapter in this story, but I've decided to change it a bit and posted it as an independent story titled 'Zuikaku's Ring'. Might want to check it out if you haven't already.**


	60. Our Little Bird, part 2

"Mmph...good morning..." Zuikaku said instinctively as the morning sun hit her closed eyes. She usually woke up before sunrise, but this new body of her really craved sleep.

"Good morning, Zuikaku~"

"Huh?"

The moment she opened her eyes she was immediately faced with her sister, already fully clothed and, more importantly, was kneeling really close over her like a vulture with a pleased smile on her face.

"Sis...you're scaring me..."

"Ah, sorry!" said Shoukaku as she jumped back. "it's just that...I want to make sure you're fine, you know? You took a major hit, after all."

Ah, how lucky she was to have such a caring sister.

"I'm fine." reassured Zuikaku. "I need to wash my face."

"Ah, right, here you go."

Shoukaku moved quickly, and almost seemingly out of nowhere she produced a large bowl full of warm water. Zuikaku touched it, but almost immediately withdrew her hand in pain.

"Ah, right. A child's skin is rather sensitive, isn't it?"

Before Zuikaku could say anything, Shoukaku was already working on cleaning up her face, wiping hereeyes and mouth carefully like a mother would.

Zuikaku tried to protest, but the only thing that came out of her tiny mouth was just a cute, cat-like groan.

"And now, time to get dressed."

"I can do it myself."

"But Zuikaku, it took you almost five minutes to fix a single button in your pyjama last night."

"Ukh..."

Although the scientists had tried their hardest to salvage her old brain, a great portion of it still needed to be replaced. The result was a rather wonky, childlike motor skill for the poor Zuikaku.

With a sigh, Zuikaku relented and let her sister clothed her.

"Wait...what kind of clothes are these?" Zuikaku asked when she realized how...colourful, her clothing articles were.

"Oh? The admiral provided it. Maybe they're her old ones?" Shoukaku speculated, smiling.

"I can't see that woman wearing striped blue panties and flowery dress." Also, these clothes looked remarkably new and creased, like they were ordered in a hurry from a mail order and had not been washed yet. they even smelled like cardboard.

"Hm? They looked cute, so I didn't ask much. Oh, and the admiral said you need to report to her office as soon as possible. I don't know what's going on, but I heard Miss Aoba was also called."

...

Damn that woman.

"I'll go with you, alright? Don't want you to get accidentally trampled by those huge battleships."

Ukh.

Being small sucks.

"And done!" Shoukaku announced as she slipped the outermost wear onto Zuikaku's small body. "Now, let's get your hair done. Sit down, please."

Zuikaku took a seat on her futon while Shoukaku positioned herself behind her, grabbing a brush and a pair of hair ties on the way. While her body felt almost completely alien, at least Zuikaku still had her twintails to affirm her identity.

Singing happily, Shoukaku began brushing Zuikaku's long, silky hair. Zuikaku's new body had yet to have her first haircut, so her hair reached almost all the way to her knees. Shoukaku almost seemed ecstatic as she ran her brush across Zuikaku's back.

"You look awfully happy, sis."

"Well, I actually have been wanting to do this kind of 'proper big sister' things for a long time. So please forgive my indulgence, okay, Zuikaku?" Shoukaku said, smiling playfully.

"Proper? What do you mean? We've always been sisters...oh."

Of course.

Kanmusu came fully grown.

Zuikaku suddenly realized something. Something that was obvious, but somehow she had just then realized how painful it actually was.

Kanmusu could not have a 'proper' family like most humans could.

Shoukaku, no matter how much she wished for it, could never have parents that worried about her, a grandmother that loved her, nor an aunt that would spoil her every new year.

All she had was Zuikaku.

And all Zuikaku had was Shoukaku.

"Hey, sis."

"Yes, Zuikaku?"

"I love you."


	61. Our Little Bird, part 3

"So, your significant other took a massive explosion to the face and you've yet to decide to visit her?" Nagato said, whispering to Enterprise sitting across the table. "what's with that?"

"Well..." Enterprise looked down, seemingly unsure.

"I do not understand. Don't you want to embrace her?"

"Embrace..?"

Enterprise lowered her face even more, her thin white skin barely able to hide her blush.

"I mean, of course I want to. I love her but..." Enterprise raised her face slightly, obviously conflicted. "Loving her right now feels...odd."

Nagato's eye twitched in confusion.

"What, because she's so small?"

Enterprise's silence was the only answer Nagato got.

"Sheesh, you American prudes...no one's going to accuse you of paedophilia just for hugging and kissing a small child, you know? Politicians do it all the time."

Enterprise suddenly looked irritated.

"It's easy for people who invented tentacle pornography to call everyone a prude."

"Oi, screw you. Tentacles are great."

"What."

"Never mind that. What I want to know is; Did you really love our little crane, or were you close to her simply to get her body?"

"O-Of course I love her!"

"Then it shouldn't matter if she's a little bit smaller than usual, right?"

"But..." Enterprise stammered. "I kind of...no...never mind."

"What? Come on, you can be honest with me. No one else is here."

"Uh...I..." said Enterprise slowly, clearly doubting her own words. "It's just that...I feel like I like her better when she's small..."

Enterprise had expected Nagato to either laugh or be disgusted, but surprisingly the battleship took her completely seriously.

"Well, you've not felt any interest in any other small girls prior to this, right?"

"What? No, of course not."

"Then it's normal. Variety is the spice of love, after all. Just think of it like Zuikaku just got a new haircut or something."

Enterprise nodded. "I guess I can do that..."

"Of course you can do that. There's nothing wrong with the concept of liking children. It's natural."

"What."

Now it's Nagato's turn to stammer, as if she had accidentally stepped on a landmine.

"I mean...well, we're not exactly humans, but humans are designed by nature to love their children, right?"

"I guess..." Enterprise mildly agreed, suspicion in her voice.

"Plus age of consent laws cannot be applied to Kanmusu anyway. Most of us are around five decades old legally. I've done...I could've done it with some of the youngest looking destroyers, and I doubt the law could ever touch me."

"Riight..." Enterprise said, while slowly backing away from the table.

"Well, my point is, there's nothing wrong with you loving Zuikaku, even in her current condition. you loved her before, and you love her now. There's nothing wrong with that."

"Uh-huh."

Suddenly, Nagato made an awkward smile, and cold sweat began to pour down from her brows.

"If you're feeling a little bit overexcited, well, I think that's normal too." said Nagato, looking far away and obviously drawing an image in her mind. "After all, domination is a pretty common fetish, and with a small body like that you could do whatever you want and she would not be able to refuse. And her body is 'new', which means you'd be the first to 'taint' it. Considering all that I think your excitement is pretty justified and quite normal. Er, Miss Enterprise?"

"I need to go."

And thus, their conversation ended, with Enterprise deliberating whether or not to call the police.


	62. Our Little Bird, part 4

Kaga was in her element.

With a bow in her hands, nothing else mattered except for her and the enemy.

Once it was the Americans, once it was the British or the Australians, but right at the moment, as she drew her string, none of those countries mattered. They were not her enemy. Perhaps sometime in the future, they would be again, but not today.

Today, her enemy was a couple of paper targets at the other side of a stadium-sized training area. Those, and an electronic scoreboard at the side of the room, listing the highest scoring carriers in the base. Silently, Kaga took a glance at the name on top of the scoreboard.

Enterprise.

Tonight, even when nobody was watching, she would surpass her old adversary. She was focused, determined to make it so that when the so-called 'Grey Ghost' looked up in the morning, she would see Kaga's name.

Her arrow was ready, and she had achieved a level of absolute concentration.

Nothing could possibly distract her.

 _ **CRASH!**_

"Wha..?"

A loud crashing sound of many metal things falling to the floor at the same time made Kaga temporarily forgot the reason she was there. When she came to, she silently cursed under her breath.

Slightly angry, Kaga immediately went to check what had made all this distraction, and followed the noise into the armoury located beside the training room.

What she saw shocked her.

It was Zuikaku. The small girl was practically buried on the floor, seemingly unconscious under multiple hundred kilograms of Kanmusu rigging. It seemed that she had tried to remove them from their rack, completely forgetting her current stature.

"Oh no…"

In a moment of genuine panic unusual for her, Kaga approached the girl. She was not the strongest ship in the fleet horsepower wise, and she took a full minute removing the rigging from on top of Zuikaku's body.

"Can you hear me?!" Kaga asked, checking Zuikaku's neck with her finger for a pulse.

"Hmm…"

Fortunately for Kaga's heart, Zuikaku slowly woke up, supporting herself on her two tiny hands.

"Are you alright?"

"Uuu…" Zuikaku squirmed in a high pitched tone that sounded very natural in her current body. "Nothing's broken...I think."

"What were you thinking?" Kaga asked, kneeling beside Zuikaku.

"Well...I thought I was going to check on my rigging, like usual. Making sure Akashi didn't get sloppy..."

"And you ended up nearly got killed by your own rigging?"

"It was a bit heavier than I thought."

Zuikaku stood up, yet even then she still couldn't reach the height of the kneeling Kaga.

For a moment Kaga was silent, wondering what she should be doing next.

And then she remembered who she was talking to.

"You could've died. We cannot lose a fleet carrier like that. It'd make the Navy looked incompetent." Kaga said, suddenly returning to her usual, uncaring tone.

"I guess it would." Zuikaku sighed, somewhat disappointed that Kaga, once again, did not see her as a person and merely as a Navy's asset. "I just don't want to idle too much. Now, how do I fix this..?"

Kaga stared in bewilderment as Zuikaku began trying to lift the heaviest part of her rigging.

"What are you doing?"

"Well, someone has to tidy up this mess."

"No!" Kaga put her hand on Zuikaku just as the small carrier was about to get crushed by her own flight deck. "Just...let me do it."

Without waiting for Zuikaku's reply, Kaga began lifting Zuikaku's rigging and putting them back on the rack, silently begrudging the quality of said rigging compared to her own as she did so.

"Ahh…" Zuikaku sighed. "I feel so useless."

Kaga closed her eyes. For some reason, she remembered what Zuikaku had said the first day she was summoned.

' _As long as I have planes, I can still fight.'_

She said that with a very serious face. Kaga knew that it was not merely a boast, it was a , even with all the heavy fighting, carriers generally never ran out of planes as long as they had access to a port.

But still, Zuikaku wouldn't be able to fight as she was right at the moment.

"You're not useless." Kaga almost barked, yet never averting her eyes from her own hands as she worked. "We realized it too late last time, but soldiers are not the only thing that wins wars."

"Huh?" Zuikaku was surprised. Kaga was not the type of person to give an encouraging speech. She mostly just told people to shut up and deal with their problem.

"Logistic is very important. So why don't you go and help out Mamiya tomorrow? I'm sure she could use some extra hands, even a pair as weak as yours."

Even with the belittling at the end, Kaga's words brought a faint smile on Zuikaku's face.

"I guess I can do that…"

Zuikaku was about to say something else, but she was interrupted by a massive, loud yawn.

"Children shouldn't play this late." Kaga smirked.

"Bah. This body needs so much sleep...and I've already taken two-hour nap in the afternoon…"

The room went silent. Kaga continued putting the complicated carrier rigging back on its rack, making sure that each bit was accounted for and rightfully placed.

It was not until the last piece was placed that Kaga realized the room was unnaturally silent.

Kaga turned, only to be welcomed with the sight of a snoring Zuikaku, sitting on the floor with her legs completely apart, open for the world to see.

At this point, Kaga did not have the energy to even feel irritated.

With a sigh, Kaga slowly lifted Zuikaku's little form, cradling her in her arms. She was light. Very light. For a moment Kaga was worried that she'd break her.

"Ah." Kaga gave another sigh. Oddly, this one was accompanied with a genuine smile on her face. One that the ever-prideful Kaga would never, under any circumstances, let anyone see. "What a troublesome child."

With Zuikaku sleeping in her embrace, Kaga began walking out of the room and back towards the carrier dorm, smiling uncharacteristically all the while.

Many, many minutes later, long after Kaga had left, the door to the armoury opened again, and the cruiser Aoba entered the room.

"So." said Aoba to the seemingly empty room. "Got the picture?"

From an invisible, shadowed corner in the room, a voice answered.

"Yes." said Albacore as her body stepped into the light, carrying a small camera. She still had some bandages on her, but it was clear that she was recovering faster than the doctors and mechanics had predicted. "I'm back in action, baby."


	63. Childhood

"So? How is it?" Enterprise asked.

"It's good." Zuikaku answered, chewing her food. "You're definitely getting better, but…"

"Hm? But what?"

"Do I really need to sit on your lap while I eat?"

Enterprise smiled. The kind of smile that'd unnerve Zuikaku's parents...if she had any.

"Why? You don't like it?"

""It's not like I don't like it...it's just that...mph!" Zuikaku was silenced as Enterprise shoved another bit of food in her mouth.

""It's fine, isn't it? We can't do this sort of things normally. You're just too big."

"What, you prefer me small?" Zuikaku said, slightly offended.

"Not necessarily. But this is more convenient, more portable, like I could just put you in a bag and enjoy you whenever I want."

"I'm not a chihuahua."

Enterprise grinned, definitely ready with a witty comeback, but before she could spoke it someone appeared through the door, someone that was impossible to ignore.

"D'aaaaw!"

Iowa almost shouted, jumping slightly and almost destroying the ceiling.

"Easy there, lass. We're still using that roof." Kongou walked in, hands on her hips.

"They're so cute!" Iowa's face shined, seemingly ignoring the older battleship. "I wish I were that small…"

"I'd love you anyway. But I personally prefer you this way." Kongou said. Also, while she was being very subtle about it, Zuikaku noticed that Kongou was ogling Iowa's exposed arms, presumably staring at her well defined muscle.

"She is indeed very cute, isn't she?" Enterprise patted Zuikaku on the top of the head. Suddenly Zuikaku felt really embarrassed.

"Please stop treating me like a child."

"Oh?" Kongou perked up. "Honestly I think this is exactly the perfect time for you to be treated like a child."

"Huh?" Everyone in the room tilted their head.

"I mean, most Kanmusu came fully formed, so it's impossible for us to experience childhood. This is the perfect opportunity for you. Go to the playground, amusement park, or something like that. Enterprise can be your parent."

"What." Zuikaku spoke, clearly not thinking very highly of this particular idea.

"That is a perfect idea!" shouted Enterprise.

"What." Zuikaku said again.

"Let me try something…"

And with that, Enterprise stood up, grabbed Zuikaku by the waist and lifted her tiny body up high over her head.

"W-what are you doing?!"

"UP! UP! FLY!"

"Eek!"

Zuikaku screamed as Enterprise threw her into the air before catching her again, over and over.

It's amazing how body size affect you perspective. Zuikaku knew that she wasn't that high, but her instinct was constantly telling her that she was falling towards her death.

"S-Stop it!"

Enterprise seemed to find Zuikaku's fear amusing, however, and threw her even higher.

"Aand my heart just melted." Kongou quipped. "Where's Aoba? We could really use her camera right now."

"Last time I checked she was camping the arsenal." answered Iowa. "She insisted that her AA gets an upgrade. No idea why, though."

"And...land!" Enterprise caught Zuikaku in her embrace, quickly pushing her against her chest. The tiny carrier instinctively clung into her body.

"D-don't ever do that ever again…" Zuikaku gasped weakly.

"Aww...did mama scare you? I'm sorry…" Enterprise said as she kissed Zuikaku on the forehead.

"What." Zuikaku repeated again. The word 'what' seemed to be the perfect descriptor of her current situation.

"Okay, that one might be a bit too much." Said Kongou.

Before Zuikaku could be humiliated further, the door opened again.

"Miss Enterprise, about your oil supply…" Katsuragi spoke while looking at a tablet, but her words immediately stopped when she saw the happening in front of her.

"Uh...what are you all doing?"

"We're giving Zuikaku-chan her childhood!" shouted Iowa cheerfully.

"What."

"Exactly!" Zuikaku agreed wholeheartedly in her tiny squeaky voice.

"Hm…" Enterprise suddenly seemed in deep thought. Then she smiled. A smile that worried Zuikaku greatly. "Would you like to try holding her, Miss Katsuragi?"

"Eh?" Katsuragi looked somewhat confused, but it's also clear as day that she was intrigued. "Could...could I?"

"Sure." Enterprise said, handing Zuikaku forward like a pack of parcel. "You're a nice girl, Katsuragi-san, and Zuikaku obviously thinks highly of you. If it's you, I don't mind sharing."

Enterprise winked meaningfully, making the younger carrier's cheeks flushed with color.

"Within reason, of course." Enterprise expression suddenly turned fierce, driving Katsuragi to take a step back.

Carefully, Katsuragi picked up Zuikaku, who herself had seemingly resigned to her fate.

"Just...just don't drop me, alright?"

"O-okay."

It started awkward, but Katsuragi quickly adapted, soon becoming comfortable with holding her respected senior like a mother would their newborn child. Surprisingly, Zuikaku did not protest at all.

"Huh...you're surprisingly warm, Katsuragi-san." Zuikaku smiled.

"Am I..?" Katsuragi said, flustered.

"Yeah. I envy your future child."

"Ah." Katsuragi froze, looking flustered.

"Hey! What about me?!" Enterprise barked.

"Oh? Is someone jealous?"

Enterprise was about to react to Kongou's comment, but the door opened again.

Kongou was right. Someone was indeed jealous, but she was not necessarily Enterprise.

"Ah!" Shoukaku stood at the doorway, looking at Katsuragi playing with her dear sister. "Not fair!"


	64. Successor

**A/N: Have I used this plot-point already?**

* * *

Standing near the water locks that connected the naval base to the sea, Zuikaku waited.

She was feeling somewhat awkward. She was once one of the bigger capital ships of the fleet, but now she's being quite literally looked down upon. Even the smallest destroyer is bigger than her, and was currently looking at her with the same look one would've given to a kitten.

Well, considering she had nearly seventy percent of her body mass blown off by the enemy, Zuikaku felt that only being forced to temporarily live in what's basically a child's body was a very small price to pay.

She could bear with the shame.

She was actually more irritated by the sudden limitations of her limbs. Suddenly every shelf was too high, every set of stairs was too steep, and her fingers were so short that she was barely able to feed herself using children chopsticks. How normal humans ever managed to survive childhood was a complete mystery to her.

One more good example of said limitations was the quiver full of heavy arrows standing upright beside her. Normally she could have carried it with no trouble, but in her current body the thing might as well be a full golf bag filled with tungsten.

Zuikaku was massaging her slightly sore shoulder when the girl she was waiting for arrived through the door.

Katsuragi was walking proudly in a full, recently upgraded rigging, escorted with her own cadre of destroyers and cruisers as befitting the proud fleet carrier the girl had come to be. Takao and Maya walked by her sides, while Hatsuzuki, Akizuki, Kagero and Shiratsuyu encircles them. Even on land they had already walked in formation.

"Katsuragi!" Zuikaku shouted, slinging the quiver across her small shoulder. She tried to drag it along, but she misjudged the strength of her legs and ended up losing her balance.

"Uh-oh."

The very next thing she saw was the ground coming really fast for her face.

" _Senpai!"_

"Ouch, ouch…"

Zuikaku rose up, her nose felt warm and stuffy.

"Oh, wow, that looks bad."said Maya.

"A-are you alright?!" asked Hatsuzuki.

"I'm okhay, I'm okhay…" answered Zuikaku through her bloodied nose. She opened her eyes, and saw Katsuragi's face just a few inches in front of her.

"Don't move, please."

Katsuragi brought out a silk handkerchief from somewhere between her rigging, and began sweeping gently but firmly on Zuikaku's face.

"What were you thinking, _senpai?_ It might be just a temporary body, but you still need to take care of it!"

"Er...Sorry. I just often misjudged how long these legs are."

"Sheesh."

"Why are you here, Miss Zuikaku? I thought you're supposed to be resting." asked Shiratsuyu, sounding curious.

"Well, actually, I need to...talk to Katsuragi." said Zuikaku in-between Katsuragi sweeping her mouth.

"Eh? Me?"

"Yeah."

Zuikaku stood back on her legs, still a bit wobbly.

"Katsuragi, I want you to have these."

"Eh?"

Zuikaku pulled her quiver up, showing her elite arrows.

"These...these are your planes…"

"Some of my planes, yes. I already talked it out with the admiral, she's given her approval."

Katsuragi looked confused, then she shook her head.

"I...I cannot accept these."

Zuikaku almost rolled her eyes.

"Look, I'm not being sentimental here. Your aviators are pretty green, yes?"

Katsuragi scratched her ears, looking mildly embarrassed. "Well, compared to yours…"

"I know how hard it is to train green naval aviators after most of the elite squadrons in our navy got killed off in a single catastrophic battle. My current situation makes me realize that it is possible that you would outlive me one day."

"Ah! Please don't say that!"

Zuikaku shook her head again while putting her quiver closer to Katsuragi.

"Just take it, alright? It's the admiral's order anyway."

Katsuragi bit her lips, obviously conflicted.

"Please. For their sake, too. They want to fly."

Zuikaku could see Katsuragi's eyebrow twitched, and with a sigh, she silently took Zuikaku's quiver and picked out a couple of arrows from it. She then called to a nearby technician, telling her to put the rest of the quiver in storage while putting Zuikaku's arrows in her own quiver.

"It's not good to put all of your eggs in a single basket, right?" she commented. "I am grateful for this gift, _senpai."_

"It's not a gift, just reshuffling of military asset." Zuikaku smiled jokingly.

"Aww...that's so sweet…" commented Kagerou.

"Well, then," Katsuragi stood up, putting her bloodied handkerchief back between her rigging. "Wish us luck."

"May you live long and prosper."

"That's a rather strange greeting, isn't it?" said Takao.

"Dunno. Enterprise taught me that one."

Katsuragi chuckled, laughing at the silliness of her honored senior.

And then she kneeled and hugged her, completely surprising Zuikaku.

" _I love you, ma'am."_ said Katsuragi in English, completely willing to use the vagueness of the word 'love' in that language.

"Er…" Zuikaku er'd, oblivious to the eyes of a certain AA destroyer locked to her.

" _I love you too..?"_

It was one of the happiest moments in Katsuragi's life.


	65. Another

It had been almost a year since Zuikaku met Enterprise for the first time in her second life, and a lot had changed.

The naval base was a whole lot more crowded, for example.

For some reason the Abyssal seemed to have ease up on their assault around the Atlantic and had started focusing upon the Pacific, especially Japan. Now, this is probably not a good thing, Zuikaku being a Japanese and all, but the lessening threat on their homelands meant that a lot of countries could start sending their own ships to Japan.

Their enemy was getting stronger, but so do they.

Zuikaku was walking along the port. The regular naval port, where the conventional warships were moored. A lot of different flags were flying. Alongside the Stars and Stripes, the Rising Sun, and the Union Jack, there were the Southern Cross of the Australians and the New Zealanders, flying together with the yellow star of the Chinese Navy and the Nakhimov badge of the Russian Navy.

'What an odd combination', Zuikaku thought, smiling slightly.

Zuikaku's attention was suddenly drawn to the commotion in front of her. Apparently she was not the only one that had decided to visit their steel and steam sisters.

Tenryuu was walking towards her with two other ships by her sides, whom Zuikaku recognized as Atlanta and Juneau. Atlanta was speaking about something Zuikaku couldn't quite hear under the inherent noisiness of a busy port, but whatever it was it had caused the faces of her companions to maroon considerably.

Then, Atlanta shouted, loud enough that everyone around her could hear.

"HEY! EVERYONE! THIS BUTCH JUST SCREWED MY SISTER!"

"S-sis!" Juneau called in horror.

"THEY'VE BEEN DATING FOR MONTHS YET THEY ONLY DID IT ONCE! WHAT A SLOW BASTARD SHE IS!"

"I WILL END YOU!" Tenryuu shouted.

"HA! TRY IT YOU SLOW BASTARD!" Atlanta said as she began running.

As they ran past her with an exasperated Juneau desperately trying to catch up, Zuikaku grinned.

Zuikaku thought that events such as this must've been happening all the time around the naval base. She only regretted that she couldn't be around to witness all of them.

Just as she thought that, another voice came up from behind her.

"Miss Zuikaku!"

The tiny Zuikaku turned around, and saw the towering figure of the German battleship Bismarck.

"Yes? Can I help you?"

"I need advice!" she kneeled, putting both hands on Zuikaku's shoulders all the while looking very desperate. "How do you handle so many women at once?"

"What…"

Before Zuikaku could finish her inquiry, Bismarck glanced behind her, uttered some germanic curses, then dived for cover behind some crates, completely hidden from view.

"Miss Zuikaku?" said a Royal Navy carrier. Zuikaku immediately noticed her distinctive pink hair.

"Have you seen Bismarck around?"

"No, I have not." Zuikaku lied.

"Hm. If you see her, please tell her that Ark Royal is looking for her."

The girl bowed slightly before taking her leave.

"What's that about?"

"She's been on my stern ever since she arrived here." said Bismarck, poking her head over the crates.

"Maybe you should talk to her?"

"Well, I'd rather not."

"You afraid of her?"

"No."

"Then why…"

Zuikaku yet again could not complete her words as a certain heavy cruiser suddenly arrived.

"Onee-sama…" Prinz Eugen called in Japanese. The German girl seemed to have grown fond of the language.

"Miss Zuikaku, Have you seen Onee-sama?"

"No." Zuikaku repeated her lie.

"Sheesh...where are you, Onee-sama…"

Without even saying goodbye, Eugen wandered away, her mind full of the images of Bismarck.

"She's sweet, but sometimes I just need time for myself, you know?" said Bismarck, poking her head out again.

" Look, I think you need…"

"Oh shit here comes the legal wife."

Zuikaku was interrupted once again as Warspite came, rolling on her electric wheelchair.

"Afternoon, Miss Zuikaku. Have you seen my dear Bismarck?"

"Err...no." said Zuikaku again. She noticed that Warspite was holding what looked like a handmade sweater, with the caricature of her own face on it.

"Hmm...where could she be…" Warspite muttered as she rolled away.

"I wish she'd understand that ugly sweater is a commitment I am yet ready to make."

"This is ridiculous."

"Pot, kettle."

Their conversation was interrupted when yet another girl barged in.

"Ah! There you are!"

The girl's identity was unmistakable. Her short brown hair was tied neatly behind her in a royal manner, and the Union Jack draped over her shoulder was very distinctive.

"Oh, **Scheiße."**

"Hey! Don't you dare run! I demand a rematch!"

"I said it already! We're over!" Bismarck began to run, HMS Hood hard on her stern.

"I refuse to acknowledge it! I'll chase you to the end of the earth if I have to!"

"AAAAARRRGH!"

As the two ships moved very quickly out of sight, Zuikaku sighed.

"Guess I'm not the only one with problem."


	66. Swordsmanship

"Honestly, I was surprised to hear that you're interested in swordsmanship." Tenryuu said as she walked to the center of the gym. She had moved all of the equipments, leaving a good patch of bare wooden floor at the center.

"Well, you see, I'm rather lightly armored." Juneau said as she followed Tenryuu, wearing the USN standard issue training outfit consisting of an orange shirt and a blue shorts in contrast of Tenryuu's Gi and Hakama. "And the enemy's ambushes have been really effective lately, so I think I should at least be able to do a little bit of close quarter fighting…"

"Hm...and since all of those foreign ships came, the Admiral has no use for an old cruiser like me. I don't have many sorties lately, so I might be able to train you whenever you're free."

"Ah." Juneau, the advanced AA cruiser, suddenly looked guilty.

"Hey, don't worry. I can do more good at the base than I can at sea. Which is a bit tragic, but I'm content."

"Sorry…"

"As I've said, don't worry." Tenryuu shook her head while shaking her two shinai. "Although...Juneau, you were designed as a destroyer leader, correct?"

Juneau nodded. "Yes, we Atlanta-class are purpose-built destroyer leader cruisers. Hence the torpedo tubes."

"Then may I request that you take care of the Akatsuki sisters in my stead? Your squadrons often operate together, yes?"

Juneau nodded enthusiastically. "I will."

Tenryuu gave a gleaming smile that almost brightened the entire room by a couple of lumens.

"Then, shall we begin?"

Tenryuu threw one of her two shinai at Juneau, who caught it with ease.

"Have you ever received any training before?."

"N-no...is that a bad thing?"

"I prefer it, actually. You're pure."

"H-huh?" Juneau stuttered, her face blushing.

"I mean-" Tenryuu stuttered back. "It's like the difference between working on improving an already done clay statue versus working with a fresh clay, you see. I can sculpt you with my own hands, without any conflicting directives and-."

"It's alright, I understand." Juneau raised her hand, still blushing.

"R-right, let's start with your first form. I won't bother you with the ceremonial and beginner stuff. You already have the perfect body."

Tenryu then entered her first stance, not noticing that Juneau just blushed even harder.

"Try to copy me." ordered Tenryuu. "Now, what I'm going to teach you is called Katori Shinto Ryu, a form of bujutsu. unlike the duel-focused Kendo, this form edges more toward the practical side of fighting. First, try to form your feet into a 'T', Right toe pointing at the enemy."

"Hai! Sensei!"

"S-sensei?" Tenryuu stuttered, blushing almost as bad as Juneau was. "R-right, I'm a sensei now…"

After calming herself a little bit, Tenryuu continued her instruction.

Yet for all of her keen senses, she failed to notice a certain sneaky submarine hiding over the roof tiles.

"Sheesh...you're such a good girl…." Albacore whispered tearfully in the dark, absolutely sure that no one could hear her. "And to think that I sank you with such a little thought...I even thought you were just a mere transport."

"I can almost say the same. Your cruiser is such a nice girl."

"Wha-" Albacore almost shouted as she realized that she had been out-sneaked. "Miss Nimu? What are you doing here?"

"Same as you." answered the submersible aircraft carrier. "Enjoying the show."

And just as she said that, Juneau messed up a step and fell right into Tenryuu's embrace.


	67. Short: Yamato and Arizona

"I'm bored." Arizona said as she slumped into her bed, still in her full dress white.

"Uhh...can I help?" said Yamato when she realized that Arizona was looking at her, waiting for her response.

"Aren't you bored too? We both have been doing nothing but propaganda works lately. I'm sick of doing speeches."

"I personally think that strengthening the friendship between former enemies is an important job to do, just as important as fighting at the frontline. We all have our own battles."

"But we're not exactly made to do advertisement, were we?" Arizona turned herself, facing the ceiling with her long brown hair sprawled on the white sheet, like crude oil on the sea. "I already can't tell when the last time I don my rigging."

Yamato took a deep breath, leaning by the corner of the room and toying with the pencil skirt of her uniform. "Do you really want to fight that much?"

Arizona went quiet for a moment, before opening her mouth ever so slightly.

"No. I know that I'm too valuable to lose, just like you."

"In my case it's more 'too expensive to operate' rather than 'too valuable to lose'."

Arizona blinked, shifting her eyes towards something far away that didn't exist.

"Still, I want to do something...more, this time." Arizona crumpled the bedsheet in her hand. "Unlike the last time."

Yamato's shoulders twitched.

"I sympathize."

"I bet." Arizona laughed. "At least you have an actual killcount to your name."

Suddenly the door opened, and a woman with a headphone, casual clothes, and a writing pad poked her head in.

"Miss Arizona, you're up in five minutes."

"Be right there." Arizona answered half-heartedly, palm on her face.

The door closed.

"Well, I guess I'm going on air again." Arizona stood up, looking defeated. "You should prepare for your own shoot, Miss Yamato."

Arizona walked through the door with her head down, completely missing Yamato's mischievous grin as she walked past her.

 **OOO**

Suddenly, it's pitch black.

Arizona was standing in front of the cameras when, without warning, the studio went dark.

"Huh?"

Arizona stood confused as the crew shouted at each other, trying to respond to the fact that the entire building suddenly lost electricity.

After a while, one of the crew approached Arizona, telling her that all of the building's circuits had fried simultaneously, and that they would need at least half a day to fix everything.

Arizona was still somewhat confused when they practically shooed her out of the studio.

That's, until she saw Yamato standing in the middle of an empty, dark corridor, her fairies around her on the floor.

Arizona walked closer, and saw that Yamato was smiling, and that her fairies were each carrying a tool. Wire cutters, soldering guns, and even a glass full of water. Everything you need to bring a building's electrical system to its metaphorical knees.

"What did you do?" Arizona asked, her tone half accusing, half amused.

"Well, I thought you can use a break." Yamato said as she began collecting her fairies. "It's a nice day outside. I'm planning to get some ice cream and enjoy the fact that I am not being bombed, that my country still exists, and that my people can still eat."

"And~?" Arizona asked, barely able to hide her smile.

"Well, I've rented a car and...would you like to come with me?"

"Oh? You've already got the car? Miss Yamato, you really know how to put a lady into a corner." Arizona teased, now openly grinning. "How can I say no now?"

"So, it's a yes?"

Arizona smiled, tilting her body shyly.

"It's a date."

"Ah." Yamato jerked back, clearly shocked, and before she could recover Arizona already took her hand in hers.

"Come on, big girl." Arizona called as she began dragging Yamato towards the light of the exit door. "Show me the way."


	68. New Form

**A/N: Short one in celebration of the ABSOLUTELY BADASS new CG of Zuikaku.**

* * *

"How do you feel?"

Zuikaku opened her eyes slowly. It felt like she hadn't used her eyes in forever.

"Like a newborn baby." she answered. "Has the world always been this bright?"

"It's only temporary." Head engineer Fukuda said, her hands still unwrapping Zuikaku's bandage. "You, quite literally, have a new point of view."

Zuikaku ran her fingers over her eyelids and over her brand new set of eyes.

"Excellent. Did anything get changed?"

"You specification is pretty much identical with your old body, though we've taken the chance to slightly upgrade your rigging."

"Upgrade how?" Zuikaku asked just as Fukuda removed the very last piece of bandage from her feet, making her shivered in her pristine bare skin.

"Mostly electrical. You know, giving reliable performance to systems that aren't directly powered by the engine or hydraulic. Though I personally think that the best improvement is in the aesthetic."

"Aesthetic?"

Fukuda reached under Zuikaku's bed, pulling out a massive duralumin case and put it near Zuikaku's feet. She then opened it, revealing a set of carrier rigging that was familiar to Zuikaku, yet somehow different.

"Try it on."

Zuikaku shrugged before immediately moving out of her bed. The cold floor immediately stung her bare feet.

Piece by piece Zuikaku put on her gear. Soon it became clear that this rigging had more pieces to put on than her previous set.

"What's this? A haori?"

"We're going for a samurai look this time."

Zuikaku put on her new green overcoat, then realized something was missing from the set.

"Where are my hair ties?"

"It doesn't have any. Your radar is mounted inside a headband instead, just like your sister."

"Oh." Zuikaku sighed. For some reason she felt like the twintails hairstyle had become a part of her identity, like losing it meant losing a piece of herself. A childish notion for sure, but she couldn't help but feeling somewhat disappointed.

After she's done with her hair, she put on her deck piece and picked up her bow, testing its string.

"You look great." the head engineer said.

"Thanks, I-"

"Zuikaku!"

Zuikaku turned her head towards the voice that called her, and saw her sister running at full trot towards her.

"Zuikaku!" she shouted as she drew her sister into a full on glomp. "Zuikaku! My dear Zuikaku! You are all fine now!"

"Apparently I am." Zuikaku whispered, struggling to breathe.

"I was so worried I-"

Shoukaku suddenly stopped when she finally took a good look at Zuikaku's new form.

"uh...well..I-"

"Is something the matter?"

Shoukaku did not answer, only standing in silence with a blushing face, eyes transfixed towards Zuikaku.

"Well, this is an unexpected…'side effect'" Fukuda said with a finger on her chin.

"What side effect?"

"Well...let's just say that in the next couple of days some ships around you will be frozen staring at you while showing symptoms similar to those of a fever, such as increased heartbeats, body heat, and a red face."

"That's strangely specific. Is she going to be fine?" Zuikaku said while pointing at her still frozen sister.

"She'll be alright. You just need to move away for a while."

"Uhh…if you insist..." Zuikaku took one glance at her sister, hesitant. But finally she started walking towards the door.

Once Zuikaku disappeared from sight, Shoukaku came back to her senses.

Well, she started to, at least.

"Hey, you alright?"

"Oh no." Shoukaku said with a thousand yard stare. "My sister is hot."


	69. The Crane and the Southern Belle

"Well well, when did I get transported to the Sengoku era?"

Zuikaku smiled. "And I appear to have been trapped in the Matrix."

"What's a Matrix?" Nagato tilted her head, her long black cloak billowing in the harbor wind.

"Nevermind that. Nice upgrade, by the way."

"Thanks. You too."

"Have you seen Enterprise, by the way?"

Nagato pointed somewhere behind Zuikaku.

"You're going the wrong way. She said she's going to the battleship dorm to discuss her next escort roster."

Zuikaku nodded. "Thank you."

"Hm."

It took barely five minutes for Zuikaku to backtrack to the battleship dorm. She had almost forgotten how it felt to have legs of adequate length.

"Afternoon." Zuikaku greeted as she passed the Fuso sisters. "Have you seen Enterprise?"

"She just passed us." Yamashiro pointed behind her with her thumb.

"You look wonderful, Miss Zuikaku." said Fuso.

"Thank you. Good luck with your assignment."

Zuikaku kept walking. The dorm was rather empty, since with all the resources coming in from the newly liberated sea routes and allied nations the sortie rate for many capital ships had increased quite considerably. About 70 percent of the dorm inhabitants were probably at sea right now.

Zuikaku was not exactly familiar with the layout of the building. She kept walking anyway, asking for directions as needed.

Somehow she had walked herself into some sort of a dining hall.

There's only one other ship in the room. One that Zuikaku knew pretty well.

With her back to the door and to Zuikaku, USS Texas sat with a glass of milk in hand, reading a book.

She looked a lot different now compared to when Zuikaku first met her at the party. Instead of her elegant dress, she's wearing slightly torn tight jeans and a red flannel shirt. Her sleeves were folded neatly up to her elbow, and judging by how much Zuikaku could see of her shoulders she suspected that the first two or so buttons of her shirt were kept undone.

Her blonde hair also looked a lot less pristine that before. She probably had her hair permed up specifically for the party. Today it looked like she just forced her bed hair into a tangled ponytail.

"Miss Texas?"

"Ah, Zuikaku!" Texas turned around, her glass of milk still close to her mouth. "Enterprise was just here, you-"

Texas laid her blue eyes on Zuikaku's new form, and her words promptly got stuck in her throat.

"Ah."

Texas made an audible gasp. She then looked down at her own chest, seemingly just realizing that she had two thirds of her breasts exposed. She immediately tried to cover up, but only succeeding in accidentally dropping a good portion of her glass' content on herself.

"Whoa, easy there." Zuikaku moved forward, spotting a box of tissue on the far side of the table. She quickly took it and handed it to Texas.

"Oh, goodness, I'm sorry." Texas took a handful of sheets from the box and started wiping the white liquid from her bosom. "That was so undignified."

"No, it's alright. It's my fault for surprising you." Zuikaku leaned on the table, courteously looking away from Texas. "Though I admit I did not expect such clumsiness from a dancer such as you."

"Uh…" Texas' face went even more red than usual, emphasizing the presence of her dark freckles. "It's just that you-I mean, you loo-you just surprised me. That's right, I'm just surprised."

"Ah, then let me apologize again."

"R...right." Texas nodded slightly while rapidly buttoning up her shirt. "So...do you have business with me?"

"Er...No, actually. I was just trying to ask for directions. Have you seen Enterprise by any chance?"

"Oh." Texas' face drooped, suddenly looking slightly disappointed.

"Hm?" Zuikaku turned her head towards Texas. "I something wrong?"

"Nu'uh." Texas said firmly, her southern accent suddenly sprouting out. "She just went outside, I think. You just missed her."

"I see." Zuikaku nodded in confirmation, her hands on her hips. "I guess I'll see you later, then."

"Yeah." Texas answered weakly.

Zuikaku began to turn towards the exit, not noticing the sigh coming out of Texas' mouth.

But halfway through the door, Zuikaku suddenly looked back.

"You know, Miss Texas, I've never seen you as the shy type."

"Huh?"

"Why did you have your shirt open in the middle of a common room, anyway? When you're that easy to fluster?"

"Oh." Texas stuttered, her face reddening again. "That...that...It's just how i usually dress. Being seen usually doesn't bother me. It's just you that...nevermind."

"What?" Zuikaku asked, not quite catching Texas' staggered words.

"Do you dislike shy girls, Miss Zuikaku?" Texas suddenly spurted, desperately trying to change the topic.

"Eh? Nope." Zuikaku gave a full-toothed smile. "I kind of find them endearing, really."

"I...I see." Texas looked down, tapping her bare toes on the floor like a telegraph.

"Well, I guess I'll go now." Zuikaku began to turn away again. "You better take a bath soon, Miss Texas."

"Yeah…"

Texas kept her eyes locked on Zuikaku back until she was out of sight, leaving Texas alone staring at her half-empty glass.

"Dummy…"


	70. What Does She Think of Me?

**A/N: This scene takes place a day before Zuikaku got 'rebuilt'**

* * *

"Tenryuu?" Kongou called just as she spotted the light cruiser from the entrance of the family restaurant she had just entered.

"Ah, Miss Kongou. Would you like to sit here?"

"Sure."

Kongou made the short distance to reach Tenryuu's table. The place was rather empty since this was an odd hour for a meal.

"What are you doing here all alone?"

"Hm? Ah, I just came from the library. There are a few things not even Google can find."

"What are you trying to find?" Kongou said as she took her seat in front of Tenryuu

"Child adoption laws." Tenryuu raised the book she was reading.

"All of those are law books?" Kongou pointed the massive plastic bag filled with books sitting beside Tenryuu.

"Both for the US and for Japan."

The waitress came and asked for Kongou's order. Kongou noticed the empty platter on the table.

"What were you having?"

"Omurice and orange juice."

"Wow, you really are just a big destroyer, aren't you?"

"Children menu is cheap, and I'm not that hungry anyway."

"Fair enough." Kongou faced the waiter. "I'm having what she's having."

The waitress left, and the two ships continued their conversation.

"So, what are you doing this far off base, Miss Kongou?"

"Meeting my tailor."

"You have a tailor?"

"Just hired her. I'm preparing something good."

"For Iowa?"

Kongou nodded. "She's a surprisingly frugal girl. And since all of her clothes have to be custom made her wardrobe is a little bit barren. Her birthday is coming up and I'm planning a surprise, so…"

Kongou looked meaningfully at Tenryuu.

"I'll keep my mouth tight." said Tenryuu.

"Good."

The door opened and another customer came in.

"Ah, Miss Kongou, Miss Tenryuu."

"Miss Yamato? Aren't you supposed to be at the studio?" Asked Kongou.

"Oh, it ended already. We're just redoing some of the recordings today."

Yamato took her seat beside Kongou, still in her dress uniform.

"So I decided to grab some food while I'm downtown, preferably something that's less...military." Yamato said while removing her suit jacket, medals still attached.

"And I assume that you heard that this place provides discount for Kanmusu, just for today?" asked Kongou.

"You came here for that, too?"

"It's close to where I needed to be."

"I think the owner would regret putting up that announcement." Tenryuu said, looking at the two massive battleships in front of her.

"We're not eating that much…" defended Kongou, slightly sulking.

"I'm not planning on stuffing myself. I'm just here for the taste. This place comes well recommended." added Yamato.

The door opened again, and another Kanmusu came in.

"Ah, Miss Ryuujou, are you here for the discount, too?" asked Yamato.

"What the…? Miss Kongou? Miss Yamato? Miss Tenryuu? You're all here?"

"It's not that surprising, is it?" said Tenryuu.

"No, it's not, I guess." said Ryuujou as she took her seat beside Tenryuu's books. "I heard that a bunch of American Kanmusu were planning to come here as well."

"Talking about American ships…" Kongou suddenly perked up, looking at the other end of the establishment.

Another door on the other side of the restaurant opened, just far enough that the group of American ships that entered could not immediately saw the small group of Japanese ships sitting by the furthest corner.

"Should we greet them?" Asked Yamato, almost in the process of standing up. But Kongou immediately reined her down.

"No, this could be a good opportunity. Miss Tenryuu, can you see who's coming?"

Tenryuu carefully peeked behind her over the couch.

"Enterprise, Arizona, Iowa, Saratoga and...Juneau."

"Oh, what a coincidence." Kongou remarked. "It's our girlfriends plus one. Miss Yamato, quick, duck down."

"Uh...why are we hiding?" Yamato asked, even as she made her body flat with the table. Or at least as flat as her chest allowed. Ryuujou twitched her eyebrow.

"Because there are things that a girl will gladly tell her closest friends but hide from her spouse."

"We're eavesdropping?" Ryuujou almost shouted.

"As I said, great opportunity." Kongou said while reaching under her clothing, pulling out a single fairy.

"She doesn't look Japanese." observed Yamato, looking at the blonde fairy on Kongou's hand.

"Nope. She's a Marine. Got her from Iowa at our last date. Every battleship and carrier in the USN have at least thirty of them."

Kongou put the Marine on the table. She quickly scuttered and disappeared under the table.

"Now, let's have a listen, shall we?" Again, Kongou reached under her clothes, into the massive multidimensional storage space all Kanmusu seem to have, and pulled out a walkie-talkie.

' _So, Enterprise.'_ Saratoga voice came out from the speaker, slightly distorted. ' _How's your relationship lately?'_

"This feels illegal." said Yamato.

"Well, I'm not seeing you leaving." returned Kongou.

Yamato looked around, saw that Tenryuu and Ryuujou were listening intently to Kongou's walkie-talkie, and sighed in defeat.

' _Well, she's getting a new body tomorrow. We'll soon be able do things together again.'_

' _Oh, what things?'_ asked Iowa's voice.

' _Not what you're thinking, perv.'_

' _Still, Miss Enterprise, I'd like to know how it feels to date a girl like Miss Zuikaku.'_ blurted the soft voice of Juneau.

' _What? Are you too..?"_ said Enterprise, her voice raising.

' _No! No! Miss Tenryuu is all I need!'_

Tenryuu made a fist pump in an exaggerated gesture of victory.

' _Then what do you mean?'_

' _It's just...isn't it hard to have your girl being the dream of so many hearts?'_

' _That's a poetic way to put it.'_ said Arizona.

' _Well, how do I say this….after a while, you just get used to it, you know.'_

' _Oh?'_ uttered Juneau, sounding curious.

' _As time goes, you'd know her better. You'd know that she'd never leave you, that she'd always put you in the highest order even when she's interacting with other women.'_

" _That's very generous of you, Miss Enterprise.'_ commended Arizona.

' _I understand her. She's an important girl, not just for the navy, not just for me, but for many others as well. They need her, and I am not so cruel that I would deny them of such an essential presence in their life. In fact, I've been making the effort to get closer to these girls.'_

' _So you're saying you're open to the idea of a threesome and up?"_ asked Iowa without any hesitation. These words were quickly followed by the sound of a hard slap.

' _Ouch.'_

' _Then, what about you yourself, Iowa? What you and Kongou have been up to lately?'_ asked Saratoga.

' _Well, we've been experimenting. Last time she said that she wished I actually had a biological mother, so that we could…'_

' _Whoa,stop there, if this is going where I think it's going then I don't need to hear it.'_ cut Arizona.

' _Oh, what, too spicy for you?'_

' _Hmm...how concerning.'_ said Juneau suddenly, her voice sounding grim.

' _What?'_ asked Iowa.

' _Everytime you talk about Miss Kongou, Miss Iowa, It's always been about the pleasure of the flesh.'_

' _Eh?'_

' _That's a valid question, Iowa. What do you think of Kongou beyond the flesh?'_ prodded Enterprise.

' _Yeah, the way you say it, Iowa, it sounds like Kongou is more of a sex friend rather than a proper partner.'_ Saratoga added.

Suddenly Kongou was visibly worried.

' _ **N-no!'**_

Iowa's denial was loud enough that it could be heard even without Kongou's little trick.

A moment passed in silence before the speaker sparked up again.

' _You see, I was one of the first of our ships they sent to Japan.'_ Iowa began, her voice calm and could barely be heard.

' _At first, I was not able to talk to anyone, even if I could speak Japanese. It was some of the worst feeling I ever experienced, like everyone around you hated you and wished for your death. It was not true, but that's how it felt like.'_

"Were we really that terrible?" asked Yamato.

' _Kongou was the first to approach me. At first I thought she was being nice just so that she could haze me later. But she didn't. She just came to me and said 'Ey, child, why are you crying?', and she said that in a weird Cockney accent! It was so unexpected that I just laughed out loud on the spot!'_

Iowa was laughing, but on the Japanese side, tears had begun pooling over Kongou's eyes.

' _It was the first time I ever laughed in Japan. After that, she introduced me to her sisters, then her friends, then her sisters' friends. Before I realized I could already laugh with the Japanese like they were my own family.'_

"We are your family, you beautiful buffoon." Kongou muttered, her voice high and nasally as she tried to keep from outright sobbing.

' _Sounds like you hold her in high regard.'_ commented Arizona.

' _Yes! She makes me very happy!'_ Iowa said with an absolute certainty. So without a doubt that even if the entire world went mad, these words would still ring true.

' _Aww...that's so sweet…'_ said Saratoga dreamily. ' _How about you, Miss Arizona? Has Yamato been treating you alright?'_

' _Eh? We're continuing?'_

' _Well, of course. Iowa and Enterprise have already poured their hearts out. It would not be fair for them if we stopped here. So, how's your relationship going? You've been working together a lot, right?"_

' _Well, I'd like to think we're getting closer…'_

' _What do you love most about Miss Yamato, Miss Arizona?'_ Juneau asked, and Yamato instantly perked up.

' _Uh...I guess it's her point of view?'_

' _Point of view?'_ Iowa asked, clearly sounding confused.

' _Well, how do I say this...it feels like she always has positive outlooks on things. The way she looks at the world is quite inspiring. Whenever I'm feeling down, I often think about what Yamato's going to say about my situation, and I'll feel better.'_

' _Wow. She has that much impact on your life?'_ Enterprise said, sounding somewhat amazed.

' _Yes. i used to feel useless before this. I barely ever fired my guns. But after I met her I became quite comfortable with where I am.'_

Yamato looked so happy you'd think the war had just ended.

' _That's very impactful, Arizona. What about you, Miss Juneau?'_ asked Saratoga.

' _Ah!'_ Juneau certainly sounded surprised. ' _Well, about Miss Tenryuu...umm…'_

Meanwhile, Tenryuu was pointing her ear very close to the speaker.

' _I think what I admire most about Miss Tenryuu is her maturity. She's very vision driven. Everything she does she does it for the sake of the future. Just yesterday we were talking all night about how we could rebuild our countries after the war, where we would like to spend the rest of our lives, what we would do when we're no longer soldiers...'_

' _You're spending all night...talking?'_ Iowa said in disbelief.

' _She sounds like she'd make a good parent.'_ said Arizona.

On the other side, Tenryuu was subtly touching her pile of books.

' _What about you, Sara? You've been instigating all of us to talk, now it's your turn. Tell us about Ryuujou.'_ said Enterprise.

' _Well…'_

Saratoga's tone was so mischievous that all of the Japanese ships could almost _hear_ her smiling from across the room. Ryuujou quickly went pale.

' _Something brilliant just happened recently. Ryuujou took me to a fancy dining place. I came wearing my best night dress. We had an enjoyable three-course meal, but when it's time for the dessert, instead of a velvet pudding the waitress brought me a small velvet box instead.'_

"Oh shit." Ryuujou cursed.

' _First, I was confused, but Ryuujou was looking at me with that meaningful look, signaling for me to open the box…'_

"I told her it was supposed to be a secret for now!"

Ryuujou quickly stood up, and promptly dashed towards the American table.

"Well, so much for being subtle." said Tenryuu.

Soon after, Saratoga's voice could be heard echoing throughout the establishment.

"I SAID YES!"


	71. Flags

"Do you think I look weird?"

"Huh?" Enterprise jerked back, coming out of her trance.

"You keep looking at me with an odd expression."

"Huh? Oh." Enterprise shrugged. "I'm just too used to the twintails, probably."

"Hm." Zuikaku grabbed a chunk of her hair, examining it. "I admit, this does feel strange even for me."

"I… kind of like it, though." Enterprise moved closer to Zuikaku. "Uh, can I touch?"

"What?"

Before Enterprise could clarify her intention, the car stopped.

"Ah, we're here." Enterprise said, slightly disappointed.

"Here you go." Enterprise took out her wallet and paid the driver before getting out of the car first, closely followed by Zuikaku. "Let's go."

"I should pay next time." Zuikaku said as she closed the door, signalling the driver to start driving away.

"Oh, don't think too much about it. I'm the one that invited you, after all."

Zuikaku sighed. Enterprise had always paid for all of their dates ever since their mutual confession.

"I feel like a leecher." Zuikaku whispered thoughtlessly. Unfortunately, Enterprise heard her.

"Oh, alright, we can share the bill later."

Zuikaku could only nodded shyly as she followed Enterprise into a narrow (even by human standard) alley.

"This part of the city is rather old." commented Zuikaku.

The sight around her flooded Zuikaku's mind with the memories of her crew. Memories not of her own. Old wooden houses and store fronts, sliding rice paper doors, all reminded her of the children she never had and the wives she had never left. The feeling was very odd, and would be impossible to explain to a human. It's like some sort of second hand nostalgia.

"I didn't even know that we had an ice cream store this close to the base, moreso one that was not yet abandoned."

"Most of the residents near the shore have already evacuated, but old people are stubborn, no matter the country."

Zuikaku looked around, and was greeted by numerous wrinkled eyes barely peeking out from the windowsills of their homes.

"We're ones to talk." Zuikaku said absentmindedly.

It took a few minutes of silent walking before Enterprise stopped.

"We've arrived."

Zuikaku looked at the store front. A bunch of massive blue sheets were hanged horizontally, each piece bearing one letter. Together, they simply said 'Ice Cream'. Oddly enough, it's written in english using hiragana.

Zuikaku scratched her head. "How did you know about this place, anyway?"

"Yamato told me."

Enterprise walked into the store. A glass wind chime suddenly rang, as if announcing her arrival.

"Welcome." A surprisingly young voice called out.

The greeter was a young child, dressed in a traditional clothing. She was looking at Zuikaku, waiting for her to respond.

"Table for two, please." said Enterprise.

It took a moment for the girl to turn her attention away from Zuikaku and towards Enterprise, obviously surprised by the blonde's command of the Japanese language.

"You need to order first. R-right this way, please." she said nervously.

The girl led the two plain-clothed carriers towards a glass counter somewhere at the center of the establishment. Inside the refrigeration unit Zuikaku could see multiple colors that she didn't know could even exist for a food, labeled with flavors that might as well be written in an alien language. The counter was crewed by a young woman wearing similar clothing as the girl, so they're probably uniforms.

"I could make my own ice cream, of course, but apparently there are some flavors that you can only get here." said Enterprise. "You look overwhelmed, Crane?"

Zuikaku shook her head. "Uh...could you pick for me? I'm not exactly familiar with these kind of...foods."

It was only a year ago that Zuikaku finally got used to the concept of MREs and heating packs.

"Oh? Alright then...would you like something sweet?"

"Uh...sure."

"Right. Go get us a place to sit, then."

Finding a table proved to be easy. The two of them were basically the only customers.

All the tables were located on a raised platform, with wooden partitions separating each of them. Zuikaku removed her shoes and climbed up under the table furthest from the entrance, sitting on a thin pillow.

A couple of minutes later, Enterprise arrived holding two large bowls. A bit too large, probably.

"The portion here is excellent!" said Enterprise, putting a large bowl filled with a soccer-ball sized scoop of orange-ish ice cream in front of Zuikaku.

"What's this?" asked Zuikaku.

"Tiger Tail. It's orange and licorice."

Zuikaku took her spoon, which felt oddly small compared to the giant bowl, and began eating.

"It's good." Zuikaku smiled. "What's yours?"

Enterprise's Ice cream was greyish yellow.

"French-style frozen vanilla custard. The yellow comes from the egg yolk, the grey from the vanilla pods."

"Can I have a taste?"

"Sure."

After spending a few moments trading their ice cream, Enterprise suddenly spoke out.

"So, you're coming to the party tonight?"

"What party?"

"Saratoga's and RJ's party."

"Oh, right. Of course."

"You forgot?"

"No. Of course not. How could I forget something that big? They are the first, right?"

"The first between shipgirls, aye. I've heard that they needed to invent some new laws because of those two."

Enterprise's expression suddenly turned serious.

"Laws that I hope the two of us could utilize someday."

"What?"

It took a while until Zuikaku finally realized what Enterprise meant.

"Oh."

Enterprise smiled naughtily.

"So, any comment about that, Crane?"

"I…"

Zuikaku looked hesitant, suddenly putting her spoon down.

Her head drooped, and her eyes slowly moved to meet Enterprise's.

"Crane?"

"Well, actually I've been thinking about it for a while."

"Was I pushing it too quickly? Look, if you're not ready yet just forget-"

"No, I've wanted to say this for a while."

Silence fell before Zuikaku started speaking again.

"Look, we shipgirls get a lot of leniency, but there's a reason why romance between soldiers is usually forbidden, especially between those that are expected to fight together."

"Crane…"

Zuikaku raised her hand.

"Let me finish. E, you know this...job, this duty that we carry, it's dangerous."

"What are you trying to say, Crane?"

Zuikaku bit her lower lip. "I just want to say...that if we are to progress our relationship, I need to make sure that we both understand the fact that there will be times when we will not be able to be with and protect each other."

Enterprise closed her eyes in understanding.

"I see."

Zuikaku moved her hand forward, grabbing Enterprise's finger.

"E, I want you to promise me one thing. Never compromise your mission for my sake, even if I'm in danger. If I were to be swarmed by enemy bombers, do not compromise your own air wing, do not disperse your escort nor your CAP unless you receive a direct order to do so."

Enterprise simply nodded silently, looking down at hers and Zuikaku's intertwined fingers.

"However hard it is, I want you to think of me as expendable. If I die, do not mourn me for long. Find someone else, be happy."

Zuikaku paused, waiting for Enterprise's response. But Enterprise's eyes were blanks, empty, as if her mind had grinded to a halt.

Then suddenly Enterprise raised her face, wearing her professional expression.

"Then I want you to promise me the same."

Zuikaku nodded. "I promise."

"Promise." Enterprise nodded.

Zuikaku dropped her shoulders, falling back against the partition. She took a deep breath to calm her heart before moving on.

"So, about that thing you're asking me…"

"Huh?" Enterprise looked taken aback, clearly expecting the conversation to be over.

"I don't really have a ring, but…"

Zuikaku ran her fingers through her hair, pulling out a strand. She then carried that strand gently across the table, towards Enterprise's fingers.

Enterprise watched silently as Zuikaku expertly knotted her hair around her ring finger.

"This is the best I can do for now." Zuikaku smiled.

"I love you."


	72. Addition 1: Ribbons

Kongou paced happily along the mason tiles sidewalk, her heels clapping with every step. And even though she's walking in one of the busiest commercial districts in Japan, people visibly move to the side in front of her, giving her the right of way.

It's probably because of her uniform. It's nearing summer now, so she's wearing her 'working white'. It was just a short sleeved white shirt and trousers with minimum decoration mostly on the shoulder patches denoting her captain rank, but it still contrasted heavily with the casual clothes and business suits of the rest of the pedestrians. And since respect for the military had been increasing lately, Kongo liked to think that these people were giving her way simply out of courtesy and not out of fear.

It was probably both, though. Either way, it's pretty convenient.

Kongou finally reached her destination. A small cafe enclosed within a small alcove between a bookstore and a boutique. It had a subtle feeling about it, with little in the way of advertisements. If it was not for the numerous outdoor tables on the big front terrace people might mistake it for someone's house. The wall was made out of faux red bricks, and was by design looked like a medieval European building.

She entered through a glass-paneled wooden door, sounding an iron bell hanging inside just on top of the doorframe. Inside the interior was small, but it felt surprisingly spacious with the sparse placement of the tables. The environment was rather elegant, kind of reminding Kongou of an English gentlemen club, with oil paintings on the wall and large windows allowing the current patrons to double as free advertisement.

The place was empty, which could be expected at this day and hour, except for one person.

"Ah! There you are!" Iowa called from the furthest end of the room. Unlike Kongou, she's wearing a complete 'dress white' with all of her medals and ribbons, her golden-threaded hat sat on the table between two plates of cakes and an earthen teapot. Usually you wouldn't wear such ceremonial clothes for a casual outing, and Kongou could see that Iowa was sitting oddly straight, not willing to wrinkle her outfit.

"You really wanted that cake, didn't you?" Kongou said as she took her seat in front of a plate of pink cake.

"I did." Iowa answered, cutting another bite from her purplish cake. "I ordered your share. You like strawberries, right?"

"I do." Kongou confirmed. "When is the inspection?"

"In three hours." Iowa said between chewing. "Got plenty of time."

"Still, our prime minister is going to visit your embassy, right?" Kongo said, pouring herself a cup of tea. "You sure you want to face him with blueberry jam on your ribbons?"

"It's blackcurrant." Iowa corrected. "And I just need to be careful."

"Famous last word…" Kongou murmured.

"Oh, come on. I don't know how long until I'll be able to visit this place again."

This place, despite appearances, was actually very famous for its blackcurrant cake, and apparently blackcurrant was banned in America until lately.

"Is this your first time tasting blackcurrant?"

"Mm." Iowa nodded as she swallowed. "...stupid logging industry..."

"I see."

Iowa shrugged.

"Thank you for coming, by the way. I'd feel awkward eating alone in this clothes." Iowa smiled, her gratitude showing clearly.

"Well, you're not exactly subtle. That's a lot of ribbons." kongou said, pointing her gaze at the multi-colored rectangles arranged in three by four on Iowa's chest. "Did you get all that in this war?"

"Oh, no, not exactly." Iowa put her fork down, now looking at her chest too. "I got some of them...in some other wars...ah."

Iowa's expression suddenly changed. She looked down guiltily, peeking up at Kongou occasionally as if she was determining if Kongou was angry.

"Ah, right. American ships get medals even in their steel forms, don't they?" Kongou nodded sagely. "If you do not want to talk about it, it's fine."

"Well, uh...it's just that most of them are actually from...our war." Iowa said awkwardly. It's almost as if she wanted to sink into the ground.

Kongou nodded calmly.

"Is that so? What's that one with the Korean flag?"

"Uh...Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation...it's from Korea…"

"Yeah, I figured from the name."

"No...I mean the war…"

Looking at the suddenly dejected Iowa, Kongou could do nothing but smile. It's easy for her to forget that Iowa had gone through more wars than her, despite technically being younger.

"They gave you a medal even though you're a foreigner. Must've done something great."

Iowa smiled sheepishly.

"Well, no, actually. It's more of a participation medal. I'm pretty sure the entire Department of Defense got one."

Kongou shook her head in digress.

"That one kind of look like a rainbow." Kongou pointed at the rectangle with a red center and multi-colored sides.

"That's...that's…" Iowa hesitated. "It's the World War Two Victory Medal."

Kongou chuckled.

"Why look so down, lass? You've earned that medal. You fought our finests and won."

"Yeah..I guess…" Iowa laughed awkwardly. "I'm no carrier, though."

Kongou shrugged. As a fellow battleship, she could understand how it felt to be sidelined for their flat-topped comrades.

"What's that one?" Kongou pointed at the one with red and black vertical stripes.

"That one? Oh." Iowa suddenly looked very awkward, again. "That's...the Navy Occupation Service medal."

"Occupation? You mean..?"

"Yup..."

The American occupation...Kongou had not live long enough to see it, so she really didn't mind. Iowa looked very awkward, however.

"Ah...I see."

Silence fell between the two ships before Kongou finally spoke again.

"Might not want to show that one to Nagato."

"Yeah." Iowa smiled painfully.

Kongou sighed, leaning back on her chair. "Do you have anything on that massive chest of yours that doesn't involve kicking our asses?"

"...er…" Iowa looked at her chest again, her finger running across it as she tried to remember what each ribbon meant in a hurry.

"That's the Philippine Liberation one...Well, I also have the National Defense Medal from Korea." Iowa pointed at the red ribbon with a single golden bar.

Kongou nodded. "What about that one with the 'E'? I remember Saratoga wearing something like that on her hair."

"Ah, yes." Iowa chuckled, looking genuinely happy for the first time in a while. "She's a bit of a showoff, isn't she? That's the Navy E ribbon."

"And that is..?"

Iowa crossed her arm, smiling smugly. All traces of her previous awkwardness just evaporated from her face, replaced instantly by an unmistakable aura of pride.

"You see, basically our navy has this constant year-long competition between ships comparing our battle readiness. You know, engineering, maritime warfare, logistic, stuff like that." Iowa grinned. "I won four times."

By this moment, Iowa looked so happy that Kongou couldn't help but smile.

"Ambitious, aren't you?"

"Ehehe." Iowa laughed sheepishly. "If I ever reach five, I'm planning to get a golden E painted on my funnel."

Kongou laughed and raised her cup of tea.

"May you reach your goal."

"Cheers!" Iowa followed the toast.

Suddenly, Iowa tilted her head.

"Your chest is pretty bare, Miss Kongou."

"Hm?" Kongou looked down. "Oh, right. We stopped giving combat medals and awards after...our war. They're deemed too aggressive for a defensive force."

"Huh…" Iowa looked inquisitively at Kongou.

"I do have some training awards I'm not wearing right now, though."

Iowa frowned. "Hmm...that's too bad. If it was up to me, I'll give you a golden E right away...oh, I know!"

Iowa grabbed a paper napkin and a pen from her pocket. She folded the napkin into a triangle and then wrote a big 'E' on it. She then reached forward and put the napkin inside Kongou's breast pocket, with the 'E' sticking up.

"See? I know you'd look good with them." Iowa smiled, admiring her work.

Kongou looked down at the makeshift 'award'. Then she looked at Iowa's smiling face.

"A gift from a friend means a lot more than anything the government can give. Thank you." she said as she returned Iowa's smile.

"Ehehehe." Iowa chuckled again before picking up her fork, continuing her interrupted meal.

Kongou too, began digging into her strawberry cake.

"You know, I appreciate that conversation."

"Huh?"

"Being reminded that we used to kill each other makes this moment all the sweeter, don't you think?"

Iowa took a while to process Kongou's words in her head, then she smiled wide.

"You're weird, granny."

Kongou did not respond with anything but a shrug.


	73. Addition 2: Tenryuu of the Sword

Tenryuu's keen sense felt the presence of another soul entering her domain, yet she kept her mind focused, sitting cross-legged near the three separate pieces of metal lying on the floor in front of her.

As her hands continued to work a carving knife against a piece of honoki wood that was just slightly longer than her forearm, Tenryuu constantly maintained the image of a complete sword in her mind. Slowly, she formed the soft wood into a tubular shape, careful to give it an oblong cross section even as she felt two tiny eyes staring at her with childish interest. This would give the sword a way to communicate its edge alignment to her and thus giving her the information needed to perform the most optimal of cuts.

Then again, with how the Abyssal had up-armored their vessels lately, neither cuts nor slashes would be that useful. Which was exactly why Tenryuu needed to forge a new sword in the first place. Sadly 'Jirokichi', her old Katana, would need to retire. No matter how much pride Tenryuu held for her national sword a Katana was probably among the worst swords in term of trying to slip through the gaps of enemy armor. A Katana, like most curved swords, generally worked best against unarmored opponents. Great for beheading peasants, not so great when trying to fight against monstrosities from the abyss.

Meanwhile her new sword, forged by herself in the scorching hell of Akashi's workshop, was mostly inspired by western swordsmen's accumulated experience of dealing with armored opponents. To be specific she was inspired by the pictures of 'Landsknecht', German mercenaries.

These young and beautiful men would've carry greatswords longer than they were tall then march to the frontline wearing colorful and expensive clothing designed to leave good looking corpses on the blood soaked battlefield. For some reason or another, Tenryuu felt some kind of bond with these fearless, somewhat reckless seekers of glorious death. Perhaps it's her Japanese blood?

The blade in front of her, still unsharpened and with a bare tang, was somewhat short for a Zweihander. Yet if propped vertically it would still be taller than Tenryuu, herself barely any taller than the tallest destroyer. It was strongly tapered near the end into a menacing tip probably more befitting of a smaller sword. It's relatively thin profile made sure that even the uninitiated could see it as a stabbing sword although the more experienced observer would know that it could cut just as well as any Katana. Tenryuu would admit that the double edged hollow grind was more the matter of aesthetic than function, but she digressed.

It was made out of crucible steel, meaning that Tenryuu had not not needed as much time forging it than she did her Katana. Folding the red hot steel coming right out of a low-temperature tatara might look cool, but it's also a tiring and long process with little to no benefit. The composition of her new Zweihander, completely unfolded, was exactly the same as her old Katana. Carbon content around 0, 95 to 1, 07 percent, plenty of chromium, one percent cobalt, some manganese, molybdenum, silicon, vanadium, and then whatever substance the shell of an Abyssal destroyer was made of.

The color of the blade was also similar to her old sword. Black with red edges. There's a swirling pattern across the body similar to Damascus steel, which also enhanced its beauty in Tenryuu's singular eye.

About thirty centimeters up the blade from the tang, Tenryuu added small, almost unnoticeable protrusions at either side of the sword's body, marking the part of the edges that she would leave unsharpened. This would allow her to hold the blade around its center of gravity and give her greater control in exchange of protection. It would also help with performing half-swording maneuvers and murder strokes, both of which involved holding the sword by the blade.

Keeping a solid picture of the finished sword in her head, Tenryuu continued working her knife until she finally came up with a serviceable hilt. It's around the length of her fingertips to her elbow and was entirely made out of honoki. Honoki was soft, malleable wood generally used for Japanese blades and lacquered wares. It's very good for impact absorption and compression that would allow the hilt to attach itself firmly around the sword's tang. With swift movements, Tenryuu reached for her brush and started coating the newly finished hilt with special oil that she had concocted herself giving it a brilliant shade of brown that sadly would be mostly hidden when she finished wrapping it in shark skin.

Tenryuu's special coating attached itself rapidly into the wood and she immediately began the finishing process of sword making. With a gloved hand Tenryuu picked the blade of the sword. It's probably around three kilograms at most. Slightly heavier than a Katana, but even a modern couch potato would still be able to handle it with ease if inefficiently.

Next came the guard. For this Tenryuu had taken inspiration from the Scottish version of the Zweihander, the Claymore. It's the same single piece of steel bent at one hundred degrees angle, but instead of two quatrefoils as decoration at both ends Tenryuu had opted for the more culturally relevant imperial chrysanthemums, the same she wore in her own body.

Tenryuu fitted the guard around the blade's tang and started hammering with a rubber mallet. It's tight, but after a few powerful bashes it attached itself firmly around the blade.

Next came the hilt. It fitted in surprisingly easy, thanks to the flexibility of the wood. Tenryuu quickly moved on to the pommel.

A pommel was probably the humblest part of a sword. This particular pommel was barely more than a threaded brass ball, yet it would be the thing that kept the sword together. When used by a master, a pommel could be utilized in a way that would quickly end the opponent rightly. The way such a small, simple thing could have such an important role was very Confucian, which Tenryuu liked. Tenryuu herself was small and outdated and would be completely outgunned by most of the younger ships, yet she still had roles to play.

The sword was almost complete, all that's left is to wrap the hilt in a single, long strip of shark skin, a tedious process that tended to let the mind wander.

Thus, as her hands began moving almost in autopilot, Tenryuu decided to address the eyes that had been watching her for a while.

"Interested in swords, aren't you?" Tenryuu asked in English, but her eye did not leave her work.

"Ah...I..." A voice stammered, clearly unsure and shy.

Tenryuu slowly turned her head, facing the shy destroyer who had snuck up into her bedroom.

"No need to fret, Miss Sullivans." Tenryuu said in her best motherly tone, trying to calm the American destroyer in front of her.

But USS The Sullivans did fret. Her short brown hair was swaying in front of her as she tried to hide her face in her own bang with her brown eyes looking straight down to her fair-skinned bare feet.

"The sword will need a name. Do you have any idea?"

"H...huh?"

The ruse worked. Tenryuu smiled as Sullivans slowly raised her face again.

"Go on. You can name it whatever you want. Even a silly one."

Because what's more humiliating than being slain by a sword named 'Miss Fluffybuns' or the likes?

"Uhh..." Sullivans err'd, clearly thinking hard. "...what about...Irma?"

Well, now that's unexpected.

"Irma? why Irma?"

"I...I just thought it's cute..."

"Do you know what the name 'Irma' means?"

"...n...no...?"

"She's a Germanic Goddess of War, which is really fitting. Good one, Miss Sullivans. Irma it is."

Tenryuu was about to invite Sullivans to sit beside her when she suddenly remembered something important.

"Don't the destroyers have a class around these hours?"

Almost as soon as Tenryuu finished her words a voice came from the corridor. Colors quickly disappeared from Sullivans' face.

"There you are!" shouted destroyer Ikazuchi, her red wavy hair contrasting her white sailor uniform. "Today's class is practicing ballistic! Just because you have all those fancy range finders and radars doesn't mean you can ignore the manual way, you know?"

"...I..." Sullivans looked at Ikazuchi, then at Tenryuu, her eyes hopeful that Tenryuu would somehow protect her from the wrath of the maternal DD.

Instead, Tenryuu slowly shook her head.

"Tsk, tsk. Truancy, Miss Sullivans? What would Miss Juneau say?"

Tenryuu watched in amusement as, like she had expected, Sullivans' face began to glow red in embarrassment, and before Ikazuchi could grab her Sullivans dashed out of the room so fast that Ikazuchi could do little but to fume in the doorway.

"H-Hey! Where are you going!? Dammit!" Ikazuchi shouted, looking as upset as someone as cute as her could be.

"Interesting girl, is she?" asked Tenryuu, her hands still working on the shark skin knots.

"She's just annoying." said Ikazuchi, though Tenryuu's single eye was sharp enough to spot the faint smile of her lips.

"Take care of her, alright?" Tenryuu requested, as a mother would ask her eldest to take care of her younger sibling.

Ikazuchi looked back, seemingly about to protest. But then she sighed.

"Sure, mom." Ikazuchi said defeatedly before she walked out of the room in search of the errant American.

Now alone, Tenryuu could smile freely. She did not remember when the destroyers had begun to call her 'mom'. It didn't really matter. She liked the sound of it.

"Now, Irma." Tenryuu called as she finished the final knot on the sword's hilt. "Let's make you a nice scabbard, shall we?"


	74. Addition 3: Girl Tabloid

"Hey Crane." called Enterprise.

"Hm?" Zuikaku was about to dig into her newly prepared cup of instant ramen when she realized that Enterprise had sat beside her. "Oh, hey E. What is it?"

Enterprise leaned against the cafeteria table on her elbow, her red eyes solely focused at Zuikaku with an inquisitive expression. Her head was tilted slightly, as if she was very carefully considering her next words .

"Say, Crane. What do you think my favorite color is?"

Zuikaku was puzzled. What an odd question.

"why are you asking that?"

"Hmm. Nothing. Just curious."

Enterprise leaned forward, drawing her face closer to Zuikaku's. Whatever was causing Enterprise to ask this question, Zuikaku at least knew that the question itself wasn't rhetorical, and Enterprise was clearly expecting a genuine answer.

"err...let me think." Zuikaku put a finger below her lower lip and started thinking. For some reason Zuikaku thought that she really should consider her answer carefully.

'Maybe grey' thought Zuikaku. 'for Grey Ghost? No, that's a nickname, given to her without her consent. Grey is a drab color. Utilitarian. Good for naval camouflage but little else. Enterprise's personality does not match the color grey.' Zuikaku concluded.

'Red, white, and blue? No. Too stereotypical. If anything, Iowa would have claimed those colors for herself, not Enterprise.' Zuikaku continued her mulling.

'Maybe just blue, then?' Zuikaku thought. The color of the sea and sky? Many of Zuikaku's shipmates liked the color blue, especially the carriers. That would be logical, but for some reason or another Zuikaku didn't think that it was the right answer. Maybe blue was just a bit too mainstream.

"Come on." Enterprise prodded. " Just say the first color that comes to mind when you look at me."

Zuikaku took a long glance at Enterprise's face, which was closing in and starting to enter the zone that most people would refer to as 'personal space', but oddly, Zuikaku didn't mind that one bit.

Zuikaku carefully examined Enterprise's face, from the red eyes that dominate her face, her thin nose, and petite lips, to the short blond hair that framed it all, with the slightly reddish tips of her ears slightly visible, protruding from either side of her lock.

"Reddish pink." Zuikaku said without thinking.

Enterprise looked surprised by this answer. "Pink? why?"

"No idea." Zuikaku answered truthfully. "You said it yourself. First color that comes to mind. Maybe it's a subconscious thing."

For a moment, Enterprise sat still, looking puzzled, but then her mouth turned into a wide, teasing grin.

"Pink, huh? You think that I like pink. Reddish pink."

"Well, maybe. Did I get it right?"

"Hmm. I don't know." Enterprise stood up from the table, leaving a confused Zuikaku at the table.

"What? Come on, don't leave me hanging here. Why did you ask that in the first place, then?" demanded Zuikaku, slightly raising her voice as Enterprise started walking away.

"Fufu..." Enterprise chuckled before turning to face Zuikaku, and then, Enterprise made an expression that Zuikaku would never have associated with the American carrier; she leaned forward, tilted her head, winking, and stuck her tongue out.

"Teehee. It's a secret." She said playfully, before turning around and skipped, skipped out of the cafeteria.

In all of her career, whether as a Kanmusu or as a hunk of steel, Zuikaku had never felt that confused.

'The heck was that about?', Zukaku thought to herself. Then she realized that her cup ramen was getting soggy and decided to put the entire experience at the back of her mind, at least for a time.

Zuikaku was about to reach the bottom of her cup noodle when two other ships entered the cafeteria, took their foods, and and then sat at the table in front of Zuikaku.

"Hey, Fubuki, what do you think of this?" the heavy cruiser Aoba shoved a magazine in front of the destroyer girl. The magazine was at an angle that Zuikaku couldn't possibly read anything on it, but the pages that were open seemed to show an article about romance, at least judging by the pink hearts spreaded liberally on the pages themselves.

"Hmm? What's this?" Fubuki leaned towards the magazine, the tone of her voice was clearly that of curiosity. "'Know what your lover thinks about you by your color'? What does it mean?"

Zuikaku's ears suddenly perked up.

"Well, basically..." Aoba started, with Fubuki and Zuikaku listening closely. Somewhat involuntary, in Zuikaku's case.

"...it says that you can figure out what your lover thinks about you by asking him or her about what your favorite color is. For example, if he or she says that they think your favorite color is grey, then they thought that you are a moody person, and like the clouds and lightnings, are prone to sudden outbursts of emotions."

Zuikaku suddenly felt thankful that she didn't say grey when Enterprise asked her.

"What about blue, then?" asked Fubuki.

"Well, since most strangers would answer blue when asked randomly, if your lover thinks that your favorite color is blue, then he or she is yet to develop a special feeling for you, and haven't seen you as someone special yet. In short, they think that you're just a generic stranger."

Zuikaku suddenly felt a great weight lifted from her chest.

"Ohh..." uttered Fubuki, now clearly infatuated by the subject. "What about pink, then?"

Zuikaku found herself leaning forward, getting her ears closer to the heavy cruiser.

"Well, if it's just pink, then he or she thinks that you're a feminine person...but if it's a mixed color, for example, reddish pink..."

Aoba started laughing sheepishly, and Zuikaku started feeling the same uncertain dread she had come to associate with the tense last moments right before a mission launch.

"...it means that person can't wait to take you inside his or her bed."

"b...bed...?" the destroyer's face reddened, and Zuikaku was not sure if hers was worse or not.

"...and it's very detailed, too! Bluish pink means he or she wants to make love with you gently. Light pink means he or she doesn't have any experience yet and is not sure about his or her abilities."

"T...then, what about reddish pink?" the destroyer asked.

"Hmm, let's see..." Aoba continued reading the article before suddenly stopping. Raising a hand to her mouth, Aoba was clearly trying to hold down a massive laugh.

"...it says...heh...it basically says that they just want to tie you up ass over tits over a basin and start pounding."

"P...pound?" said Fubuki, her voice staggered.

"Yeah...and I'm not talking about British currency. Seriously, who wrote this thing?" Aoba closed the magazine, now audibly laughing.

Aoba cast the magazine aside, and the two ships started gulping down on their foods. Fubuki was eating slower, probably because the content of her previous conversation with the heavy cruiser was still stirring in her head. Nevertheless, the two ships continued their feast, only interrupted once in a while by breaks of random conversation, and although the two ships might talk about some very interesting subjects that were worth eavesdropping, Zuikaku could no longer care...

...since she was busy pressing her head against the table, trying to wipe the sight of Enterprise's grinning face from her mind.


	75. Addition 4:Pajama Time

"Come on ladies, time for bed." said the destroyer leader Tenryuu, noticing the clock on the wall.

Her call was answered by the agreeing noises from three destroyers. Two less than she had hoped for.

"You didn't mean me, of course!" said Akatsuki, the oldest one. "A lady could sleep whenever she wants!"

"You'll turn into an old crone if you don't have enough sleep." quipped Verniy nonchalantly as she walked out of the common room of the destroyer dorm and entered the path that would lead her to the room of the Akatsuki class. She was immediately followed by a panicking Akatsuki.

Inazuma and Ikazuchi were also about to make their way towards their beds, but Tenryuu stopped them.

"Wait. Where's Sullivan?"

Sullivan was her one extra charge for that night. The little American destroyer had been entrusted to her when a certain American light cruiser was out on a mission.

"I think she's outside." said Inazuma. Finished with her usual verbal tic, of course.

"She said she's waiting for Juneau-nee. I don't think she wants to sleep yet." continued Ikazuchi.

Tenryuu sighed. Somehow, she had expected this to happen ever since the Fletcher class destroyer set foot in her dorm.

"You two just go to sleep. I'll take care of this." declared Tenryuu in as much maternal tone her tomboyish voice could muster.

She noticed that the two destroyers didn't immediately leave. Instead, they stood silently near Tenryuu's legs.

"Oh, right. I almost forget."

Tenryuu crouched on her knees, and kissed the two destroyers on the forehead.

"Good night. Take care of Akatsuki for me, okay?"

"Mm. You can rely on me." said Ikazuchi.

"Good night, dorm mother."

Tenryuu smiled as the two destroyers left. Dorm mother, when the admiral assigned her for that duty, Tenryuu would admit that it had irritated her a little. But Tenryuu found herself enjoying the role more and more every day. Being an oversized destroyer apparently made her connect really well with the childlike destroyers. She was a 'child at heart', so to say.

"Alright, now where is that little thing?" Tenryuu said as she was heading towards the exit door of the destroyer dorm.

Tenryuu opened the door, and found USS The Sullivans, or just Sullivan for short, outside leaning against the wall right next to the door with her short brown hair freely flowing in the wind.

"There you are." said Tenryuu, leaning out from the door with half of her body's still inside the building.

"Mmh" muttered the destroyer, barely acknowledging Tenryuu's presence.

The night was rather cold. Sullivan was wearing a long scarf that she got from somewhere, but Tenryuu also suspected that the thin white shirt she wore did not exactly offer much protection against the element.

"It's time to sleep, you know?"

"Mm, don't wanna." defied Sullivan. Her eyes were still focused on the dark horizon in the distance, waiting.

"Are you not going to sleep until your mother comes?" guessed Tenryuu.

"No."

Tenryuu smiled. Somehow Sullivan childish defiance warmed her heart even against the weather. Tenryuu felt like she could understand the destroyer's feeling, even if only a little. Apparently, Sullivan had recognized USS Juneau as her mother figure. Tenryuu didn't understand it completely, but nevertheless Tenryuu could understand the feeling of waiting for your parent to come home.

"What if we compromise?"

"Hmm? Com-promise?" said the destroyer, looking intrigued.

"It's cold outside. So why don't we just wait together inside? We could sit by the door, with a blanket and hot drinks."

"Umm..." Sullivan hesitated.

"We could make a hot choco for Juneau together." added Tenryuu." I'm sure she'd be happy."

That got her. Immediately after Tenryuu finished her sentence, Sullivan started walking towards the door.

"Lead the way to the kitchen, would you?"

Walking together, the two ships reached the kitchen, and for the next few minutes, they busied themselves making a full kettle of hot chocolate, with Sullivan preparing the powder and the milk, which Tenryuu then mixed with boiling water.

Tenryuu put the steaming result of their work inside a thermos, and put said thermos on a tray together with some clean glasses. She then brought them to the floor immediately next to the exit door of the dorm, followed closely by Sullivan.

"I'm going to grab a blanket. Don't touch the thermos."

Tenryuu grabbed her blanket from her room. It was recently washed and smelled of rose petals.

Back at the door, Tenryuu found Sullivan waiting patiently.

Tenryuu sat down cross-legged with her back against the wall. The floor was cold, but she was fine with it. She only needed to keep one of them warm, anyway.

She spreaded the blanket across her shoulder, creating a tent with her body.

"Come on." called Tenryuu, signaling for the destroyer to sit on her lap.

Naturally, Sullivan hesitated.

"Come on, I won't bite." Tenryuu said softly, softening her expression as much as she could. Tenryuu could be a scary ship if she wanted to, but she's still a dorm mother.

It needed some more convincing, but the destroyer finally made her way to Tenryuu, and sat upon her lap.

"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" teased Tenryuu as she wrapped both of them inside her thick blanket. She made it so that both she and Sullivan had their hands protruding out in front of them.

Masterfully, Tenryuu used one hand to pour a glass full of hot chocolate and handed it over to Sullivan.

Sullivan immediately started gulping the hot beverage slowly and quietly, only blowing on her glass once in a while to avoid getting burned. Soon, Tenryuu could see Sullivan's eyelids starting to droop. All she needed was one more little push.

Tenryuu held Sullivan's hand that was holding the glass, keeping it from spilling over. Then she started to sway, slowly left and right with Sullivan in her embrace. Surprisingly, the destroyer didn't protest.

Tenryuu felt the destroyer leaning harder against her chest, and she knew that Sullivan's body was starting to give away.

Tenryuu decided to add one last touch; she started humming.

Tenryuu knew that Juneau had often sung a particular song in English to Sullivan...something about tea? Tenryuu didn't know the lyric, so she just hummed away.

After a few moments Sullivan's hand dropped, and Tenryuu moved the glass filled with the scalding liquid back on top of the tray.

Even when she realized that Sullivan had fallen asleep, Tenryuu kept on singing. Partly because she wanted to make sure, and partly because she just liked the tune.

Suddenly, a voice joined in her singing. The new voice was gentle, but the fact that it was coming from right next to her ear almost made Tenryuu jump.

I'm a little teapot

Short and stout

Here is my handle

Here is my spout

Tenryuu looked beside her, and saw a long haired blonde woman wearing a long blue dress sitting next to her. The dress looked slightly singed, as expected of a Kanmusu who just went back froma mission.

"Juneau? How..."

"I went through the back door. Didn't want to wake anyone." The anti-air cruiser said. "Thank you for taking care of my child."

"Hmm? Ah, it's nothing." dodged the other light cruiser.

Juneau smiled teasingly.

"You'll make a good father, you know?"

Tenryuu suddenly felt that her blanket suddenly became a little too hot.

"I'm a girl, you know."

"Why sweat the small stuff, right? Anyway, is there still room in there?"

"Eh? Wait..."

Tenryuu was barely given the chance to protest before Juneau sneaked inside her blanket from below in a surprising show of agility. Tenryuu was suddenly grateful that she bought her blanket extra large.

"Ehehe...snuggles~"

Juneau leaned her head against Tenryuu's shoulder and closed her eyes.

"You know, I think you two should really sleep inside a bedroom."

"Mmhm." Juneau Yawned. "Why don't you carry us, then?"

Tenryuu wanted to say something, but her words stopped when she noticed that Juneau had begun snoring.

Tenryuu assessed her situation. She was trapped inside a blanket between two ships. A child and her mother.

"...so warm…" mumbled Sullivan.

Tenryuu sighed. This night was going to be a long night.


	76. Addition 5: Zuikaku's Ring

"So, who do you think she is?" asked Sendai, sitting across Kaga at the table with her massive, totally inconspicuous sunglasses.

"Could it be Akizuki-nee?" Hatsuzuki speculated, her usual twintails now non-existent in her attempt to disguise herself. "Nee-san has been going out until midnight lately...she said it was training, but..."

"You suspect it was a tryst?"

"T..tryst?!" Shoukaku blushed. Her face now contrasted her temporarily dyed black hair. It was almost an open secret that the older crane often harbored an active imagination towards the younger one.

"So, what do you think, E?" Sendai asked. However, the only American currently present stayed silent. USS Enterprise simply glared intensely at the table across the coffee shop with her sharp red-eyes, her blonde hair contained inside a ball cap bearing the logo of what Kaga suspected was an American baseball team.

At the other end of Enterprise's sight, Zuikaku was completely unaware of the multiple pairs of eyes currently locked to her casual figure dressed in a form-fitting dark blouse and jeans.

"Hm. Trendy, relaxed, yet still showing off her figure. Perfect form for a date." Sendai gave her analysis.

Only Kaga's trained eyes barely able to notice the way Enterprise twitched as Sendai finished her words.

Kaga sighed. "Sendai, you sure it was a ring?"

"Definitely. Saw it with my own eyes, and the way she looked at it she definitely was not interested in wearing it herself."

"Well, it's definitely not for any of us." Enterprise finally spoke out after a long time, her voice full of poison.

"Whoa, the legal wife seems mad. Thought you'd be used to this at this point." said Sendai.

Enterprise simply grunted.

"That reminds are you here, Kaga-san? Are you also jealous..?" Sendai smirked.

"No. Unlike you, I actually have some self-respect. I'm just here to make sure that my junior do not make a mess of the Navy's reputation while off-base."

"Sure..." Enterprise gave a sarcastic smile. "And it's not a 'navy', by the way. It's Maritime Self-Defense Force."

Kaga was barely able to keep herself from punching Enterprise in the face when Hatsuzuki suddenly pointed at a new arrival in the coffee shop.

"Is..is that her?" asked Shoukaku.

"Ooh, fancy girl." whispered Sendai with a large smile on her face, and for once, Kaga must agree with the wannabe ninja.

The woman that had just arrived emanated a strong sense of aristocracy that clashed with the plebian aura of the entire establishment. She was young, wearing a cream-colored suit that would look familiar to anyone that had ever seen a Parisian catwalk. Her black hair was tied in a complicated bun that definitely needed a servant or two to pull off.

"Hmm...perhaps the wife of some rich businessman? Look at the ring." Sendai pointed at the finger of the aristocrat lady.

"But then why would Zuikaku-san be carrying another ring?" asked Hatsuzuki.

"Dunno. Maybe she'd ask her to elope?"

"M...my adorable little sister is going after married women now..?" gasped Shoukaku, seemingly about to collapse.

"A sugar mama, perhaps?" Sendai continued to speculate.

Enterprise scoffed. "If she needs money she should've just asked me."

It was no secret that the United States gave better pay to their shipgirls than Japan.

"What a disgrace." uttered Kaga. "We need to confront her about this. We do not need a love scandal being associated with the military."

"Yes, especially if it involves an angry husband with a strong social and political standing." added Sendai.

"Hmm...no, we should wait." said Enterprise, her red eyes never leaving Zuikaku's table.

The lady walked with eye-catching grace towards Zuikaku. When Zuikaku noticed her, she gave her a smile and signaled for the lady to sit.

"Sendai-san, can you hear what they're speaking about?" asked Hatsuzuki.

"No...perhaps...huh?"

Suddenly, after talking for barely a minute, Zuikaku and the lady stood up and started walking out of the coffee shop.

"Well, that was quick." said Sendai.

"Let's go." said Enterprise, leading the way out as soon as Zuikaku and the lady were out of sight.

"Sendai, keep an eye on them." Kaga ordered as the group went outside and began the short trek towards the small alley where they had hidden their transportation.

"Aye, aye, ma'am." Sendai responded curtly before disappearing into the shadow between the buildings.

"Heh, I swear that girl is half submarine." Enterprise chuckled.

After a short walk, the group finally spotted their ride. A rented cobalt blue Lincoln Continental.

"Get in, quickly." said Enterprise as she reached into her pocket for her key.

"Couldn't you have picked something less extravagant?" asked Kaga sarcastically, her tone was definitely not that of sheer jealousy.

Enterprise ignored Kaga as she sat herself behind the wheel. Slightly offended, Kaga positioned herself on the front seat and retrieved her smartphone from her pocket while the two remaining girls took their seats at the back.

"Go north." said Kaga, relaying Sendai's command from her phone.

Not long after, they picked up Sendai at an intersection.

"That black car over there." Sendai pointed as she took her own seat at the back. "Stay two cars behind, right? Just like if you had a restraining order?"

Enterprise chuckled, being the only other person in the car that understood the joke.

With no more words exchanged, the car moved on and the five ships began to stalk their prey.

...after a few hours of driving, however, boredom started to show its effect.

"Where the heck are they going?" said Sendai exasperatedly.

"We're going to the edge of the city...I think." guessed Hatsuzuki.

Soon after, the road began to narrow and the traffic started to become less and less crowded. Concrete buildings were slowly being replaced by wooden ones, and instead of salarymen the street was filled with old ladies and pensioners.

"This area feels...old." said Shoukaku.

"And familiar, too." added Sendai. "These houses probably have been standing since...back then."

Suddenly, everyone went quiet. The car they've been following had unexpectedly stopped, and Enterprise had to make some quick maneuver to hide her own car in a corner.

"Sendai, get out and do your thing while I find a place to park." said Enterprise.

"Okie-dokie." said Sendai dutifully as she quickly disappeared once again.

It took a while for Enterprise to finally found a good parking space in between two rickety, abandoned houses.

"Let's just hope no one mind it being here for a while...oh."

Enterprise was just about to close the door of her car when she saw who was waiting at the end of the street.

"Ah, there you are." said Zuikaku, looking angry beside the defeated looking Sendai.

"S...sorry."

"It's not your fault." Zuikaku said to Sendai, before turning towards Enterprise. "Your car isn't exactly the most subtle, E."

"Neither are you, fifth carrier division." said Kaga, stepping beside Enterprise. It's been a while since she used that term to refer to either of the crane sisters, but this wasn't the time to be overtly familiar. "Going after people's wife now, are you?"

Instead of the expected remorse, Zuikaku now just looked confused.

"What the heck are you talking about?"

"Who's the ring for, Crane?" answered Enterprise immediately. "And who's the woman?"

"Wha..."

Zuikaku was about to respond when Shoukaku and Hatsuzuki stepped out of the car.

"H-hi there, Zuikaku-chan..." Shoukaku called out to her little sister, who could only react by clasping her face with her hand.

"Did you bring the entire base here?"

"That's not an answer, Crane." said Enterprise.

"ukh..."

Zuikaku fumed, seemingly struggling to come up with a response. Finally, she gave out a long sigh.

"I'd rather no one saw this, but.." Zuikaku bit her lips. "You're here now, and there's nothing I can do to change it."

And with that, Zuikaku started walking away.

"Follow me."

Kaga and Enterprise briefly traded confused looks at each other, before Enterprise finally shrugged and started walking after Zuikaku. The others soon followed.

The black car had stopped in front of a two-story wooden house, sharing its walls with its neighbors. It was build in a traditional Japanese style, with a sliding door at the front. Standing in front of that door were two people, the lady and a young man barely reaching adulthood. The man was also wearing a ring.

"Oh? A three players game, perhaps?" quipped Sendai, smiling mischievously.

"A three players game? what do you mea...oh." Shoukaku stopped as her face went red.

The man noticed Zuikaku approaching and greeted her.

"Are you...Zuikaku-san?" asked the man, in a tone bordering on reverence.

"Aye." Zuikaku responded simply. She tried to hide it, but no one in the vicinity could ignore the hint of grief on her face.

Beyond anyone expectation, the man suddenly bowed deeply and did not stand up until Zuikaku had done returning the bow.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but we've been expecting you to come alone. Are these..."

"Change of plan, apparently."

The man seemed to be about to say something, but he refrained at the last moment and headed towards the door instead.

"This way, please."

The group went inside the house one by one through the small door, leaving their shoes at the front porch. On the way, they passed a single late-aged woman who seemed to be a servant of some sort. She bowed deeply as the Japanese ships passed through but suddenly jolted in shock when Enterprise came around. Enterprise definitely noticed, but she probably chose to ignore it.

The house looked even more ancient from the inside than outside. The wooden floor was almost singing from their steps, and the perforated wall barely protected them from the cold wind. An odd silence bathed the group as they moved to the center of the house.

When they reached the central room, the aristocrat couple moved aside, letting Zuikaku to come in first. Kaga was the second to come in, and what she saw immediately touched her in all the wrong ways.

It was a shrine to the departed. A well-decorated shelf housing an ashen jar next to a black and white picture of an old woman. The picture itself had been taken by time, obscuring her eyes with a great white blob of decaying pigments. Her faceless smile giving the impression of an angry ghost staring right into Kaga's soul.

Kaga watched with grim anticipation as Zuikaku slowly moved to the front of the shrine, retrieving something from her pocket. She then took one glance back at the lady she had met at the coffee shop, who nodded with a reassuring smile.

With a sigh, Zuikaku retrieved a piece of old, scorched paper from her pocket, and began reading.

Hanako-san.

We'll be sailing past Okinawa in a couple of days.

Although I cannot see your house from here, it'll be the closest I've ever been to you in many years.

I am happy.

I can see the mountain from here, and it calms my heart to know that we're looking at the same peak.

How is your father? is he still mad at me?

If he is, then I guess I'll need to work harder.

I've been saving for a while now, and I have something great prepared for you and your father when I come back.

Zuikaku stopped reading. She approached the shrine with an outstretched hand and put a simple golden ring next to the picture.

A great shame suddenly washed over Kaga and the other ships.

I've heard that the army is doing something odd in Okinawa. Please be safe.

If, just in case, something goes wrong and the Americans started landing on the beach, do not hesitate to leave. A house is but woods and stones. You are the true home of your family.

Please, don't be scared.

I know people are saying that we're losing, that our victory at Midway was a lie, but everything will be alright. We will make sure of it.

I have a good plane, and more than that, I have a good ship.

We have survived many battles together.

She's a tough girl, and whenever I am not in the sky to protect her, she will keep me safe.

Please don't be jealous. You are the only woman I love, and I will always come back to you.

She will make sure of it.

"Ah..." Zuikaku stopped, struggling to keep on reading between her uncontrollable sobbing. The aristocrat lady walked forward and put a dainty hand on Zuikaku's shoulder, smiling as she tried to calm her down. In that moment Kaga noticed how familiar that smile seemed, a mirror image of the picture on the shrine.

"Zuikaku...Zuikaku will definitely protect me."

That was not the last line of the letter, but Zuikaku could not go on. Her knees buckled and she fell onto the dusty tatami, her body curling in front of the shrine.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..."


	77. Trying New Things

**A/N: I noticed that my story list had started to get pretty bloated. I had so many stories that I often forgot my own canons.**

 **So I erased most of them. Some of the better one-shots I modified and merged into other stories.**

 **Just so you don't feel cheated after the update notification, here's a brand new chapter.**

* * *

Zuikaku gave a tired sigh.

The influx of foreign combatants coming to Japan lately was certainly a boon, but Japan was never the best at accommodating non-japanese speakers. Signs and signals were usually monolingual, and they used letters that literally no one else in the world used. International operation bases like Zuikaku's generally had English as an official language but foreign personnel were still required to be able to speak Japanese to some extent, or at least to be able to read the road signs.

"Miss Zuikaku, are you tired?" a heavily accented voice asked in English.

"Hm? Oh, no, I'm fine." Zuikaku said as she continued walking.

"Am I imposing on you? I appreciate that you're willing to teach me well into the night, but..."

Zuikaku shook her head. "Personally? No. Us Kanmusu don't need that much sleep anyway. But if you ask that question to any other Japanese they'll answer the same, even if they find you very annoying."

"If so, then how am I supposed to know if I'm doing something wrong?"

"Well…"

That's a very good question.

"I guess it'd be very hard…"

Zuikaku herself often got called out for not being able to 'read the mood'.

"Hmm. I guess our culture can be rather inconvenient at times.." Zuikaku said.

She turned her head back and towards the brown skinned girl walking behind her, her eyes instinctively avoided looking at the black bra visible through her tight white shirt.

"Miss Geraes, you're a kind and diligent lady. I am sure you'll make friends soon."

"Thank you." the battleship nodded, smiling politely. "Being the only Brazilian here has been difficult. I very much appreciate your companionship."

"Don't mention it."

The two kept on walking until they reached a massive door.

"This is the library. We should be able to find some easy children books here."

"Ugh." Geraes grunted, sounding hurt.

"Oh, come on. Anyone has to start somewhere."

"Uh…It's not that."

Zuikaku took a closer look at Geraes. The girl looked like she's suffering. She's gritting her teeth, obviously holding back physical pain.

"Is something wrong?" Zuikaku put her hand on the girl, looking worried.

"Well, uh…" Geraes looked up to Zuikaku, seeming hesitant.

"Come on, you can tell me." Zuikaku smiled, trying her her best to look convincing.

"It's…" Geraes looked down. If her skin was a bit lighter Zuikaku would probably be able to see her blushed. "I didn't have anyone to ask, so I've been holding this for a while…"

"What is it?"

"Uhm...does Miss Zuikaku know where to buy, uh…"

"What's that?" Zuikaku put her ear closer to the Brazilian girl's mouth.

"Underwears?"

"What."

Geraes looked away, obviously embarrassed.

"I'm not very familiar with the area yet, and online order never got my size right, so…" Geraes gestured towards her chest. "...it's been quite suffocating lately."

Zuikaku could only stare befuddled.

"They...grow?"

Zuikaku wasn't even sure if Kanmusu could grow.

"Uh...yours don't?"

Zuikaku shook her head. "No. I don't even use that kind of things. Mine are too small."

Sometimes Zuikaku wore wrappings whenever the weather was too hot or too cold, but generally her clothes were loose enough to not require anything.

"Lucky." Geraes fumed, looking genuinely jealous.

"Heh, yeah, you can see that as luck, I guess."

Zuikaku chuckled. This was such an unexpected question that she could not help but be amused.

"Look, I don't really know about nearby underwear shops or anything like that. I'll ask around, though. Can you stand it for a day?"

"I guess…"

Dejected, Geraes took a deep breath...and Zuikaku could hear a faint cracking sound.

"Ah." Geraes wrapped her arms around her breasts, hiding them from view.

"What?"

"The hooks broke."

xxx

* * *

xxx

"Kaga-san?"

"Huh? What is it?" Kaga looked up from her book, surprisingly not looking as annoyed as Zuikaku had expected.

"Do you wear bras?"

"W-what?"

Kaga reeled back, probably in disgust, but Zuikaku had a hard time telling if that's her disgusted face or just her usual expression.

"Er...I'm asking for a friend."

Kaga gave Zuikaku an odd, scrutinizing look before returning to her book as if trying to ignore Zuikaku's existence.

"My money is not to be spent on such western vulgarities."

Zuikaku shrugged.

"Yeah, don't know why I expected any other answer from you."

Back in the day, only high-class prostitutes would've any use and the means to justify such expensive imports, so it's only natural for a traditionalist like Kaga to see them as uncouth.

"So, what are you using? Sarashi?"

"What is it to you?" Kaga confronted, now definitely looking irritated.

"Well, uh…" Zuikaku leaned back on the sofa, looking at the ceiling just to give her a temporary reprieve from Kaga's terrifying gaze. "It's just that you look like the type that'd bound your breasts, but yours are so big that it'd probably suffocate you. So I got curious about how you actually deal with them."

"Do you have a death wish, turkey?"

"Sorry."

Zuikaku really needed to learn how to shut up at some point.

"Well, she does wear bindings." A motherly voice came from the entrance of the recreation room. "Which I strongly disagree with, by the way."

"Akagi-san." Kaga greeted in her usual, expressionless way.

Zuikaku turned around and saw Akagi carrying a steel platter filled with enough food to probably feed Zimbabwe for a day. She circled around the newly installed pool table and took a seat on the sofa right beside Zuikaku, putting her food on the coffee table.

"So...uh, those are bound?" Zuikaku looked at Kaga's chest, trying to remind herself that they're real and not just Kaga shoving a pair of watermelons down her shirt. "What kind of bindings are you using? High-impact ballistic weave? They look like they're about to burst."

"W-where do you think you're looking?!" Kaga dropped her book as she subconsciously covered her chest.

"Sorry." said Zuikaku nonchalantly, once again averting her gaze to the ceiling.

"You shouldn't say things like that, Zuikaku-san. Kaga-san is very conscious about her chest."

"I'm not!" Kaga protested, which Akagi proceeded to ignore completely.

"She's been complaining about her growth lately, saying that her bindings are being worn out way too quickly."

Zuikaku raised her brow.

"They're...still growing?" she said, unconsciously started staring again.

"None of your business!" Kaga barked.

"You really should stop being so stubborn and start wearing a bra, Kaga-san. I think they're starting to sag." Akagi spoke out, actually sounding concerned.

Kaga reflexively touched her chest to confirm its firmness, then she realized what she was doing and quickly brought her hand down. She was not fast enough to stop Zuikaku from laughing, however.

"Heh, heh." Zuikaku gasped, trying to stop herself from chuckling. Kaga's death stare helped a lot in that purpose. "Akagi-san, do you wear bras?"

"Hm?" Akagi tilted her head. "Well, yes. Look."

Akagi opened the folds of her kimono slightly, showing a flash of a bright red strap and lace before quickly covering herself again.

"Akagi-san! That's indecent!"

Akagi looked at Kaga and shrugged, then turned towards Zuikaku again.

"Why are you asking, Zuikaku-san? Are you interested? Have yours finally started to grow?"

"Ha! No." Zuikaku shook her head, smiling cynically. "I'm just asking for a friend. Do you know a place nearby to shop for some?"

Akagi put a finger up.

"Hm...I actually know a place."

"Really?" Zuikaku perked up.

"Yeah. Why don't we go there together? Is tomorrow evening alright?"

Zuikaku nodded.

"I'll go check with her, but I think she'll agree."

"Wait. What do you mean 'we'?" Kaga asked after she realized that Akagi was looking at her.

Akagi smiled. "Well, isn't this a good chance to try out something new, Kaga-san?"

"I don't need it." Kaga said, closing her eyes and crossing her arms stubbornly.

"Oh, please." Akagi grunted. "You've been complaining about your size for a while now. Frankly hearing you keep complaining about a thing that you can easily fix has started to get annoying."

"Ukh." Kaga averted her eyes, taken aback by Akagi's sudden tongue lashing.

"Er…" Zuikaku raised her hand slightly, trying to intervene. "I think it's alright if Kaga-san doesn't want to go…"

"I'll go."

"Huh?"

Zuikaku looked confusedly at Kaga. The older carrier had an unreadable expression on her face, something between tiredness and irritation.

"I said I'll go."

Akagi smiled wide.

"It's decided then!" Akagi bounced on the sofa, looking like a happy little child after her parents told her about Santa Claus. "Zuikaku-san, please confirm with your friend as soon as possible, alright? Do you know my Email address?"

"Uh...yup." Zuikaku gave a simple nod, not sure what else she could say.

"Good, now that's done with, do you guys mind if I start eating?"

"Sure." Kaga said monotonically.

"Great! Then…"

Akagi bowed to her food, but when she reached for it she suddenly realized something.

"Oh, My. I forgot my chopsticks. How embarrassing." Akagi said. "Watch over my food for a bit, okay?"

"Wai-!"

Before Zuikaku could finish her sentence Akagi had already left the room, leaving her alone with a very grumpy-looking Kaga.

"Uh…"

A few minutes passed in silence. Zuikaku kept waiting for Kaga to say something, but her senior seemed adamant about ignoring her.

"Er…So, uh..."

It was simply too awkward. Zuikaku had to say something. Anything, if only to break the maddening silence.

"What's your size?"


End file.
